Harry Potter Finally Graduates Part II
by hemerocallis
Summary: This continues Harry Potter Finally Graduates through formation of the new Wizard governments, plus lots of in-fighting, bombings, killings, perils of young love, and further knowledge of Hogwarts, Gringotts, and magical creatures in general.
1. Chapter 1

**PART II**

As with Part I, it is important to mention that this book may not be introduced into commerce, since all of the characters, settings, and plot borrowed from the original Harry Potter series are the property of J.K. Rowling.

**Chapter One – Doctor Wright Takes a Chance**

"I think we've found Delores Umbridge's dwelling," Dad made a bad attempt at distraction, "but the house won't fully materialize for us or allow us to set foot on its top stoop, even when we approach with the key. I have one of my own aurors working on it, along with one of the magical engineers who worked on the restoration of the Hogwarts defenses. It turns out that the idea of exchange students isn't entirely new. Our man trained at Durmstrang nearly sixty years ago. He's worked here at the Ministry for over fifty years."

"That's interesting Dad," I replied, probably not hiding the fact that three quarters of my interest was still focused on the three Grangers. "Speaking of Durmstrang, where did Viktor Krum get to?"

"He went back to Hogwarts with Professor McGonagall and Madame Delacour. Why don't I get copies of the morning papers so that you can read the accounts of the press conference? I'm sure that the healer will want to be alone with the Grangers. When he gets here, we can all go back to the conference room."

"Sure, Dad, that would be great. We were sorry we had to leave before we got to read what Ernie wrote. That was his first serious assignment. Well, he had actually only been at The Prophet for four days, but he's impatient to get ahead."

"I guess. He seems to have tired of the family business in less than a week. Although, it can be difficult to work for your father. I took a very junior job with the Ministry rather than work with my father. I sometimes regret that. He died a long time ago, one of Voldemort's earliest victims".

"What business was he in, was it terrible…"?

At that point Prudence returned with Dr. Wright. As Dad predicted, his second request was for us to leave him alone with the family. His first request was for Harry to remove the petrification spell from Mrs. Granger. I joined Ron and Harry in bidding goodbye and good luck to Hermione, and obediently following Dad back to the Minister's conference room.

As we entered the conference room, I said to Dad, "I knew bringing them all back here was the right thing to do. It's fortunate that the healers are so adept at removing even the convoluted confundus spells that sixth years learn from library books."

"Yes, removing a confundus spell can be slightly tricky, but really not at all difficult for a healer. I recognized right away, however, that we are likely dealing with something more than that. Probably another Wizard put a second spell on top of the confundus, or Hermione messed up far worse than I would expect that she is capable of doing. We'll just have to wait for Dr. Wright to complete his examination and treatment. Knowing that Umbridge knew where the Grangers had relocated leads to certain speculation about who applied the second spell and what it may have been."

As Dad had concluded his remarks, Harry blurted out a "what?" which was far too peremptory in tone to be addressed to either the Acting Minister of Magic or a future father-in-law. Dad seemed too distracted to mind, or perhaps, even to notice. Harry, misjudging the silence for opprobrium, tried again: "um, Sir, what do you think the second spell might have been?"

"I hate to prejudge the opinion of a professional like Dr. Wright, but I would guess the second spell was the Imperius. But that is just idle speculation. We may be waiting awhile. I suggest you review what Ernie wrote."

"Why would anyone put a confunded Muggle under the Imperius curse?" Ron asked Dad.

"I don't know for sure, this is just a speculation on top of a speculation. I'm assuming whoever did it assumed that Hermione could very quickly undo her confundus, and wouldn't notice the Imperius. Then perhaps her parents could have been spies or even assassins for the Death Eaters. I concede that given how this is playing out, that seems like a very lame plot. But then, we need to remember that our opponents are not infallible intellectual giants. They have made at least as many mistakes as we have. Now, go read your paper."

Everyone grabbed a paper. Mine was The Daily Prophet. The front page headline blazened in large typeface:

**Rogue Auror Dies in Failed Assassination of Minister**

**Shacklebolt in St. Mungo's**

Further down the page, I read

**Amelia Bones to Head Inquiry into Rogue Aurors**

I read a few paragraphs, and Ernie's article seemed completely factual. Since it didn't contain anything that I didn't already know, rather than follow the suggestion to continue reading on page six, I turned to page two, to find equally bold headlines:

**French Invade Britain. French Minister LeDoux Slain.**

An only slightly smaller headline under it proclaimed:

**French Routed at Second Battle of Hogwarts**

Here, Ernie had perhaps taken a little license, with his 'battle' seeming far more intense and heroic than the one in which I had participated. You had to read down quite a few paragraphs, including continuing onto page seven, which I did, to learn that the French Minister was not killed in the battle, but murdered by the same rogue auror who tried to kill our own Minister. That would have been a Wizarding first, the assassination of two Ministers in the same hour, by the same assailant. I didn't believe that startling fact could stay buried for long. I next turned my attention to the back cover to read another huge headline:

**Harry Potter Leads Defense of Beauxbatons**

With the sub-headline reading: **Six Giants Slain**

It was clear in reading Ernie's actual description that the Beauxbatons battle had been very much a team effort by us and the French. Either the headline writer just got a little carried away or the publisher was determined that this was not going to be the French Wizards' day. This thought was reinforced as I turned to page 4 and glanced at the headline:

**French Invade Germany, Kidnap Mrs. Weasley **

and below that:  
><strong>Read of Daring Assault on French Ministry to Rescue Deputy Minister's Wife<strong>

Normalcy returned on page 5, beneath a much smaller headline, which read:

**German and French Wizards Pledge Solidarity with Our Ministry**

This was a very concise and factual account of what Viktor Krum and Madame Delacour had said at our press conference. This article was accompanied by a very nice picture of Dad and Viktor, with their arms around each other, and Dad looking fiercer and more determined than I had ever seen him. The picture was captioned "Acting Minister Weasley takes charge, Viktor Krum pledges support".

Further into the paper were announcements to come back for tomorrow's edition to read "startling details of the Battle of Durmstrang" and "Viktor Krum Speaks about Quidditch." Ernie's career was well and truly launched - the stories all carried his by-line, with two even saying "with help from" the paper's two remaining senior reporters. I looked up from the paper to see that Dad had stepped away. Perhaps my movement roused the others.

Ron tired of reading his Prophet about the same time I did, and looked up. "I don't think Dad could have asked for much better coverage. Really cool, tough looking picture too. Old Ernie didn't do badly by Mom or Harry, really any of us. Makes it tough to feel too broken up about what happened to Rita."

"We all got uniformly good coverage from Mr. Lovegood," Harry chimed in. "He really went to the effort to get all of the little details right. He makes our version of the Battle of Durmstrang seem quite feasible, with gasoline as the only secret weapon."

Dad walked back into the room. "Pretty good press coverage, wouldn't you say. The almost-successful attack on the Minister could have been an excuse to really pound us. May still come to that, if he doesn't recover soon and our auror friend, Bill, isn't found quickly. I went to notify Professor McGonagall and Molly that you had returned, by the way. I looked in through my ante-room window to see how things are going with Hermione's parents, but Dr. Wright just waved me away. Hermione was looking very worried and serious. I guess reversing her confunding and whatever was placed on top of it isn't going to be as easy as I initially hoped. We're just going to have to wait and give Dr. Wright time to work his magic, or to unwork Hermione's magic.

"I realize how difficult this is for her, not being able to undo her spell, but I think the problem really lies in the secondary spell. I'm still trying to figure out what the purpose of that could be. I could see the Death Eaters trying to neutralize all of you by taking Hermione's parents hostage, or using the Imperius to have them attack you, especially if they thought they might get Harry that way, but neither of those explanations hang together logically. I would have expected them to either be dead, missing, or seemingly easy for Hermione to bring back to 'normal'. Nothing else makes sense."

"I know, Dad. This all makes me feel very helpless," Ron agonized. "I wish there was something I could be actively doing to help Hermione, or at least to support her. Just waiting is awful. The worst thing is that she did what she did in order to keep her parents safe. If Dr. Wright can't fix her parents, Hermione's going to be blaming herself for the rest of her life, and crippling her capabilities because of self-doubt. I know she thinks the problem is that she was too arrogant in believing that she could self-teach a difficult skill by reading books in the library. But that is who Hermione is. Take away her faith in her ability to read and learn and she just isn't Hermione anymore. She hasn't said the words, but I know she has visions of the cure going bad and her parents ending up in St. Mungo's for the rest of their lives, like Neville's parents. You said nothing else makes sense, Dad, but if the Death Eaters used some curses that reduced Hermione's parents to the state of Neville's, that would pretty much destroy our circle. I don't even…"

Hermione walked into the room, still looking depressed. "The doctor confirms that they each have at least an Imperius curse on top of the confundus spell which I applied. He thinks there may be something more, especially with my mother, so he is moving very carefully. He says that Mom's mind is in a state that he has never observed before in a Muggle. He is quite sure that he can fix Dad, but we agreed to delay that a little, because he'll freak out if he finds Mom in her current condition. For what it's worth, and I'm not taking any comfort from it, he says he can't find anything that I did wrong in trying to reverse the confundus and that, although he is a little appalled that someone of my level of experience would try such a complex confundus on someone they cared about, he can't find anything that I did wrong. I asked him what was the worst thing that could happen when he tried to reverse the spells on Mom, and he tried to pooh pooh it at first, but then said it was very highly unlikely, but St. Mungo's, or a Muggle psychiatric hospital for an extended stay, was possible.

"That doesn't ease my mind at all. It wasn't making me feel any better to stay there and I wasn't doing anything to help my parents, so I decided to join the rest of you. I think Dr. Wright wanted me gone, anyway. Two of his associates have arrived and are helping him. Nothing more I could do, he really just wanted a better understanding on exactly what specifics I applied with the confundus curse, whether my parents appeared to be living according to the background information that I tried to imbed, and exactly how I tried to reverse the spell and what reactions I observed as I did so. He was disappointed that we left them under the petrificus spell while I tried to unconfund them, so there really were no reactions to report to him. I didn't even think at the time: it just seemed easier to not have them running around shouting about home invaders while I tried to remove the spell. Dr. Wright reasonably pointed out that that was at least a third level of spell that they were under, while I tried to reverse the confundus. I hadn't thought of that either. I'm just afraid that my ignorance has caused this to happen. We knew that Umbridge was aware of my parents' location, so we should have considered, no, I should have considered, that the Death Eaters would have done something like this. How could I do this to Mom and Dad?"

Hermione, who had resolutely avoided crying, collapsed into tears. Ron cradled her in his arms. The rest of us basically just sat around in silence, listening to Hermione's sobs and Ron's soothing whispers to her. It felt like a gross violation of their privacy to stay in the room, yet callous to leave them suffering by themselves. It was very awkward either way, and we all felt quite helpless, especially Dad, who just kept pacing and wringing his hands. We soon ended up sleeping on the floor of Dad's office, while he slept on his surplus cot.

We awakened in late morning. Hermione went off to check on her parents. Her spirits seemed significantly brightened. "Dr. Wright is still developing his treatment plan, but he thinks he has identified the anomaly with Mom. He says he thinks the unusual thing he saw in her mind was latent magical ability that is being triggered as a reaction to all the various spells. He says it is even possible that she had hints of magical ability, but either suppressed or hid them. The presence of whatever abilities she has makes removing the spells a bit more difficult, but he seems a lot more confident that he can do it safely. He said she is not quite a Witch and not quite a Muggle – it's rare but he has seen it before. It is most common in squibs that a Wizarding family hides away or sends into the Muggle world to be raised and educated. He also stated with great certainty that he sees no problem with fixing Dad. That's encouraging enough that I think I'll be able to eat some breakfast. The doctor told me to make myself scarce, but that I could check back in a few hours. I don't know whether or not he was just trying to lift my mopey spirits, but I choose to be optimistic."

Ron looked very relieved as we all made our way to the elevator to go down to the Ministry commissary. The aurors accompanied us, so we had to go in two elevators, and everyone not in our group was shooed away by Dad's guardians. The commissary was quite empty. We were about an hour from the normal start of lunch service and well past what was normally a little-used breakfast service. There were half a dozen groups of two to four Wizards scattered around the room, drinking coffee or tea, with small pastries. I don't think we could have gotten anything more substantial than that, had not one of the aurors gone to the kitchen and said the magic words 'the Minister's party'. It apparently was quite rare for the Minister to eat in the commissary. We were being eyed by the little groups of Wizards, who seemed to be trying to decide whether or not it would be appropriate to approach our party. I heard one elderly Wizard say in what was clearly a louder than intended whisper "but, after all it's Arthur and he's never stood on ceremony."

With that, Wizards started breaking away from their separate groups and wandering over to see Dad. There were comments like "we're behind you all the way, Arthur", "I've got faith in you", "you're doing a magnificent job", interspersed by questions about Minister Shacklebolt's condition. To the former, Dad gave humble thanks. I strained to catch his answers to the Shacklebolt question "doing as well as expected…. Madame Delacour….Rod of Asclepias….he should pull… moved… thank's for asking, I'm staying optimistic…. miss him too… probably a few days." Dad's presence was apparently becoming known and we were soon surrounded by a couple hundred Witches Wizards, with the aurors looking upset and keeping the crowd at a bit of a distance. Dad decided to stand and give a general report.

"The Minister is still unconscious. The doctors consider it a wise precaution to keep him that way for a while. I'm assured by the head of St. Mungo's that Minister Shacklebolt is expected to make a full recovery. I expect it will be several more days before he is revived, and I don't expect him to be back at work until at least a week after that. I'm carrying on as best I can in his absence. We've been up most of the night with Hermione Granger, whose parents were Imperiused by the Death Eaters after she hid them away in Australia to keep them safe, while she went hunting for Voldemort. I'm encouraged that they also are going to make a full recovery, but it also is going to be a while until they're out of danger. We just came down to grab some food. The kids haven't had anything to eat for a day. Yes, everything that you read in the papers is true. Thank you very much for your concern."

With that, the crowd moved away, as the Ministry Elves materialized platters of food in front of us. It was a little strange eating with a couple of hundred Wizards watching us from the periphery of the room, but I was hungry enough that I just tried to maintain a modicum of table manners while slaking my hunger. It was quite good food, which I consumed almost without tasting it. I can't say I was sorry to finish the meal and escape back to the sanctuary of Dad's office. I realized in the elevator on the way up, that as we ate in the glare of our public, we had all eaten almost wordlessly. The only comment that I remember was Ron saying "Dad certainly seems to have a lot of support at the Ministry."

When we returned to his office, Dad told us, "I'd like you to sit in on my briefing from the investigatory commission that I appointed. They have a lot more to do, but wanted to give me an interim report after their first, almost full, day of work. It's scheduled for two hours from now, in the Minister's conference room. Then, I'd like you to go back to Hogwarts and compare notes with the rest of your circle. Viktor Krum is still there. He was going to train a few of the professors this morning. Hermione has time to check in with Dr. Wright before the briefing, and I want to check with the Minister's doctors".

"Yes, Dad."

"I want to stay here, until my parents are okay," Hermione said.

"Then, I'll stay too," Ron seconded her view.

"I'd prefer that we stay together," Harry replied, "although I obviously can't insist that you come back to Hogwarts. I just think there are still things that we can do to prepare for the future. That includes Hermione's parents. There is expertise at St. Mungo's, but there is also expertise at Hogwarts. It's not like us to go all passive and just wait for the doctors to make something happen. I'm not trying to be cold, and I'm not saying we shouldn't keep checking back on Hermione's parents, but we can't do anything here but worry, and get in the way."

"You may not be trying, but you are being cold," an irritated Ron replied.

"No, Ron, Harry's right," Hermione replied. "At Hogwarts I can check possibilities in the library or help figure out which aurors are trying to kill us. Mom and Dad are going to be helpless, even if, even when, they are cured. They'll never be able to go back to their lives, not unless the other Death Eaters are tracked down and we root out the aurors and other Ministry people who can't be trusted. For some reason my parents were a target in Australia. They're just as much a target here. If they were attacked to take us out of the battle, I'm not going to let the Death Eaters win. If I can help, and I think I can, then I'm going to fight for my Mom instead of just sitting and worrying. I think I know the first thing that I need to do. Now, I'm going to go check on my parents, and you're going to be nice to Harry."

"Sorry, mate."

"No problem, this is tough on all of us, but tougher on you."

Harry and my brother didn't have a lot to say to each other, and for some reason Harry was keeping a little distance from me, so we just sat and waited for Hermione to return. It was a great relief when she walked back into the room. We were all shocked to see her Dad follow her into the room. "Dad, you know Ron and Ginny, but I'd like you to re-meet my boyfriend Ron Weasley, and my other friend Harry Potter, whom you haven't met. They've all been fighting Voldemort's people with me, and they're going to help me keep you and Mom safe."

"Hello, it's good to meet Hermione's friends. I guess it's even better to remember that I'm Hermione's Dad. Hermione says that I can help Edith by telling you as much as I remember about her background. She says I've been married to a Witch all these years, without realizing it. I started to give the background to Hermione, but she said that I should hold off so you all could hear it at the same time."

"Thanks, Dad, I really think that will help."

My Dad came back into the room and Hermione told her father that he was now the Minister of Magic. Mr. Granger seemed suitably impressed, if perhaps a little surprised, that Dad had sought or attained this high office.

"Okay, I first met your Mom when we both started dentistry school. There was an immediate spark between us - you could really call it love at first sight. We exchanged glances in our first class, and went for coffee after. She told me that she grew up in Sheffield, with her adoptive parents, the Wilkinsons. She had a scholarship to both college and the University. It was from a special foundation for orphans set up by the same organization that arranged her adoption, The New Start Society. Her parents were Brits who were killed in a bombing in Jerusalem toward the end of the British mandate in Palestine. Edith checked, and found that her father was a Captain Howcome, who was a supplies officer, and her mother was a civilian clerk, Edith Shaw. Her parents never had a chance to marry, and your mother was less than a year old when she was orphaned.

"The Wilkinsons were a kindly older church couple. He was a rector and she was a church organist, in a small suburb of Sheffield. There was not a lot of money, and they were not as intelligent as she was, but they were very supportive of her academic studies. They saved her from life in foster care or an orphanage. The nation didn't look all that kindly on illegitimate orphans back in that day, and Edith had nowhere else to turn. Her father was an only child and both of his parents died at a relatively young age, while he was still at school. Her mother's family was quite poor; they were killed in a freak auto accident while Edith's mother was still in Palestine. Their death cancelled the scheduled wedding, or your mother would not have been illegitimate.

"Your mother was always an excellent student, that's where you get most of your brains from. She was always smarter than me. Your mother and I married before we graduated from dental school, and have been together ever since. I think you know the rest of the family history. We would have told you this before, but for some reason, your mother has always been ashamed of the circumstances of her birth, and made me swear never to discuss it with you. We stuck with the made up story that your Mom has always told. Somehow, a family estrangement, and a marriage of which her parents strongly disapproved, seemed more acceptable to her."

"Mom was a squib!" Hermione shouted excitedly.

"That doesn't sound very nice," her father replied. "Is that the term the kids in your school use instead of bastard?"

"No, Dad, although many Wizards consider it more shameful than that. A squib is a child born to Wizards, but who fails to develop any magical powers. Some are hidden away, while others are sent into your world to make their way. Some, like Mom, do very well. I have no idea how many non-magical Witches like Mom live in the non-Wizarding world. It isn't something that is discussed much. I'm definitely going to do some research on this. I'll find out who Mom's parents really were. Okay, gang, Dad and I are going to go back in and see how Mom is doing."

Dad was telling us that the briefing was now in just a half hour, and fussing about formalities. "I know some of you can be more outspoken than Wizard elders deem appropriate. Including you in the briefing is a little unusual, so it is important that you be discrete and largely silent. Keep your wands handy: one reason I want you to attend is in case one or more of my aurors decide to act up, if they are unhappy with the direction that the inquiry is taking. I'm not going to push the commissioners hard at all in my questioning, because it is early days in the investigation, and this is just a courtesy briefing. The commissioners will be justifiably concerned about stating anything that might be construed as even a working conclusion, until they are done with their work. People's reputations are at stake, after all. The gist of the matter is that I need to start taking action on behalf of the Ministry to guard against any threats that their investigation suggests are out there, but my understanding with the members is that I would take emergency preventive action only, no legal action is to be undertaken until the commission finishes its business."

Hermione and her Dad rejoined us, and, from the look on Hermione's face, there were new problems. This time, however, she seemed more indignant than worried "Dr. Wright found another, older, confundus spell that was interacting with the one that I applied. I removed a little of each when I tried to reverse my spell. He thought he could remove both, but his older assistant objected, saying it was against St. Mungo's policies and nothing should be done until he could return and bring back the Director of the hospital. He tried to apparate, but couldn't."

"I'm going to go see about this," Dad replied, as he hurried back to his office. Since we hadn't been instructed to remain where we were, the rest of us followed. As we crossed the ante-room and entered Dad's office, we first noticed Dr. Wright and one of his assistants talking furiously at each other, while the other assistant was trying to keep Hermione's mother calm, as she paced about in the far corner of the office.

"Silence! What is the problem?" Dad asked.

"My assistant says it is strict St. Mungo's policy that confundus charms applied to a squib at the behest of the squib's family must never be removed. I've not been told that, but then dealing with the confunding of squibs is not usually my department. It's possible that I'm not senior enough to be read in on all the pertinent policies. I'm here because I've accumulated a lot of expertise in dealing with cases involving Imperius curses, as a result of this Voldemort business. Perhaps I should wait for guidance from my superiors."

"I'm giving you instructions to proceed," Dad replied. "I'm sure you'll agree that the Minister of Magic can countermand whatever order your superior might give, were he here. You've said yourself that this woman has magical abilities, so she obviously isn't a squib, and any rules that St. Mungo's might have regarding squibs do not apply. Besides, this is a matter of security. This woman was Imperiused by the Death Eaters and we must get to the bottom of this quickly. We've already had one bombing in Diagon Alley."

"I really must object," the elderly assistant boldly replied. "I insist that I be allowed to return to the hospital and check with my superiors, before any action is taken. I'm going to go apparate now. I guess I have to go to the Entry Hall."

"He is staying right in my office until Dr. Wright finishes his work," Dad calmly informed one of his aurors. In response, the assistant was firmly steered to one of Dad's guest chairs.

"Now then, Doctor Wright, if you would kindly complete your work. Don't worry about a thing. I take full responsibility. The woman's family is here and they all clearly wish for you to proceed."

Doctor Wright looked dubious, but did proceed, which I think is what he wanted to do anyway. The procedure was rather anticlimactic: it took only about three minutes before Dr. Wright pronounced Mrs. Granger free of all spells. It was immediately clear that she now recognized Hermione, whom she rushed over to hug and kiss. Hermione and her mother were both reduced to tears.

"Thank you for your help, Dr. Wright," my Dad concluded. "You and your assistants are free to go." Looking at the obstreperous aide, Dad concluded, "I think you would have found, sir, that had you only returned to the ante-room, that you would have been able to apparate. Fortunately, you failed to think of that option. Goodbye all, and please contact me, Dr. Wright, if you run into any difficulties from your superiors." They walked to the other room, and were gone.

"I suspect that I'll be hearing from the Director of St. Mungo's before this day is finished," Dad said calmly, with an air that suggested he was rather looking forward to the prospect.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two – Madame Bones Returns To Action**

"It was like my head suddenly filled with memories, and a part of me that had been walled off was now accessible to me." Hermione's mother stood smiling in Dad's office, clasping Hermione in a loving hug while holding hands with her husband. "I still remember the fictions, in fact I remember the doctor instilling them, and my birth mother explaining why it was the only possible thing to do. I still remember my life with the Wilkinsons, my adoptive parents, before I met your father.

"I certainly remember all the time that I spent with you, Hermione. I'm sorry I panicked you, when I failed to recognize you in Australia. Of course you realize that wasn't my fault. I've never experienced anything that strange. I couldn't move, and I didn't recognize you, but somehow you seemed so earnest and friendly that I trusted you when you said everything would be alright. Then you had those pictures that I didn't quite know how to interpret. I thought I must have known you at some time, and yet forgotten. Whatever you did to me with your wand gave me hints of memories and a sense that I had forgotten something important. Well, I'm just happy to be back to myself; really back to more than I've ever been."

"It's great to have you back, Mom".

"I don't mean to appear pushy, but this may be important," Harry interjected. "What was your mother's name, Mrs. Granger?"

"Elizabeth Saxton. She was a Muggle and Mr. Black's confidential secretary at his shipping company. Mr. Black was my father, although I only knew him for two days. He got my mother pregnant and paid her to raise me as a single Mom. Mom married when I was seven and things were alright with my stepfather until I started developing strange abilities about the same time I turned nine years old. It got to the point that my stepfather refused to have me stay in the house, saying I was a threat to my baby brother, so Mom took me back to Mr. Black and said that he had to do something.

"Mr. Black told me that I was displaying magical powers and that this meant I was a Witch and would attend Hogwarts Magical School. I was very excited. My father talked to me all afternoon and showed me tricks that he could perform with his wand. He took me home that night and explained the situation to his wife. She just exploded and said that she was not going to have the whole family shamed by sending a Mudblood to Hogwarts. She insisted that my existence had to be hidden and that, fortunately, it was not too late to accomplish this. Strangely, she didn't even mention her husband's unfaithfulness, just her disbelief that my mother was what she called a 'filthy Muggle' and that I was a 'filthy mud-blooded obscenity' who could not be allowed to be seen by any other Wizards. She summoned a doctor. When he asked what was the matter with me, she told him that I was a squib relation and that I would have to live among the Muggles.

"The doctor asked Mrs. Black if I had shown absolutely no hint of magical ability. She said I had not. Mr. Black just left the room. I think he feared his wife. The doctor said that I was a little young to be given up as a Squib, but if the family felt this was an emergency situation, that he would do as they asked. I was too afraid of Mrs. Black to contradict her. I was a little afraid of the doctor, as well. I think I was strong enough to answer honestly if anybody questioned me about magic, but since they didn't I kept quiet. I know I should have been braver than that, but I was just a young girl and everything was so strange and happening so fast. Another doctor helped the first doctor do something to me with wooden sticks. That's all I remember about your world until the other doctor treated me a few minutes ago."

"I was raised by Muggles, also," Harry replied, "but it was for my protection from people such as Mrs. Black, who would have harmed me."

"That's a monstrous crime," Dad gasped, "I can't wait to hear what the Director of St. Mungo's has to say about this. I imagine Hermione would like to stay here and bring her parents up to date on what's happened this past year, but it's time for the rest of us to head off to the conference room for the briefing. Perhaps Hermione would like to show her mother how a wand works. Let her see it as something useful, rather than frightening."

The three briefers were already seated in the conference room when we arrived, ready to discuss the attempted assassination of Minister Shacklebolt. "I apologize for the delay," Dad said, "but I've just learned of the most extraordinary crime. It happened over forty years ago, and I think all of the perpetrators are deceased, but I may fill you in another day, just so that you can be on the lookout for this sort of thing.

"But, on to the business at hand. I know you still have a lot of work to do and are trying to comply with my sense of urgency to expedite your investigation. I think you know Harry Potter, and my son Ron and daughter Ginevra. They've just returned from some battles in France, so I thought there might well be a tie-in to what you're investigating. Anyway, it might help for them to hear what you have to say. And this distinguished panel is Madam Bones, Mr. Harping, and Mr. McAlister. I think you know my aurors. I'll let you get to it, then."

"Yes, Sir," Madam Bones began, appearing a little ill at ease, possibly due to our presence, but more likely because she was newly returned to both her job and the real world. "We haven't gotten much beyond the initial tests and a review of the auror records. We retrieved Tom Stowe's wand and determined that he killed Minister LeDoux with an 'Avada Kedavra'. I'm not sure how much of this you're going to want to reveal to the French Ministry. Fortunately, they've made only the briefest courtesy contact thus far. We also found that Mr. Stowe fired an 'Avada Kedavra' at the Minister, er um, at Minister Shackleford."

"That's fine. Kingsley will always be the Minister, in my mind. Please continue. How did the Minister escape death?"

"There is some evidence that the 'Avada Kedavra' curse partially interacted with a 'protego' charm. That likely is what spared Minister Shackleford. We examined the Minister's wand, and found no evidence of either an offensive or defensive curse since the Battle of Hogwarts. I should add that there was also no evidence, although this is very tricky to read from a wand that has just been used for the 'Avada Kedavra', of Bron Turner issuing the 'protego' charm that saved the Minister. We checked the wands of the other members of the Minister's auror guard, although none were present in the house at the time of the attack. None of their wands had been used, other than to apparate, for at least a week. Do you require clarification on anything that I have said?"

"Yes…, I think I do. That leaves only Bill who could have used the 'protego' charm, and yet Bron says that Bill participated in the attack on Kingsley. Is it possible that Bron mistook a defensive charm for an attack spell?"

"It's possible, Sir, and your understanding of Bron's statement is the same as mine. As I said, it is quite possible that the 'protego' charm came from Bron's wand and that we were just unable to read it. Bron did not mention using a 'protego' charm, however. There are no further tests that we can conduct on his wand, so I'm afraid that point of confusion is going to have to stand. I think it fairly telling, however, that Bill fled the scene. By the way, there have been no reported sightings of him, which is a little unusual in itself. If he is allied with the Death Eaters, however, I'm sure that they can provide him with a secure hiding place. He might even be with Thicknesse."

"Um, yes, he certainly might, but that, of course, is just speculation. Have you learned anything of interest from the aurors' personnel files?"

"As you would expect for members of the Minister's personal guard, they have unblemished records, with nary a hint of any allegiances to Voldemort, or his gang. Bill was hired by Minister Fudge, right out of Hogwarts, as an intern. He was strongly vouched for by Headmaster Dumbledore. All of the Ministers whom he worked for, including, of course, Thicknesse, had only positive comments on his performance. His record shows no hint of special favors from Thicknesse, however. In fact, it looks like he was moved somewhat into a backwater, dealing with wholly minor offenses of a strictly nonpolitical nature. Bron Turner appointed him to the Minister's personal guard, which is also how Tom Stowe was chosen for that detail. Of course Minister Shacklebolt reviewed and approved both recommendations, and he had worked with both Bill Baggins and Tom Stowe before Thicknesse took over the Ministry, so he was at least moderately familiar with both men. The only indication that even hints of possible Death Eater sympathies is that he was a Slytherin and a descendant of a Great House, but then Sirius was a Black, and he certainly didn't have Death Eater sympathies."

"No, he certainly did not, so I think we can conclude that there are no red flags in Bill's file. I think it significant that Dumbledore thought so highly of a Slytherin, but I guess even Dumbledore can occasionally misjudge a student. He could have gone bad later, but Dumbledore recruited him as an associate member of the Order of the Phoenix. The Minister viewed him as one of 'our side' up to the very end. I wonder if he could have been Imperiused at some point. Well, I suppose you'll find all that out after we capture him. Was there anything of interest in Tom Stowe's file?"

"Nothing stands out. He made a normal, if unspectacular, climb up the auror ladder, after being hired by Minister Fudge. He seems to not have been singled out positively or negatively under Minister Thicknesse. He worked the full range of cases that you would expect of someone of his experience. He was about five years older than Bill. He also came with a recommendation from Dumbledore, although it was sort of lukewarm… um, 'decent student, a Hufflepuff Prefect, decent Quidditch chaser, got along well with students from all Houses, followed the rules'. The only unusual item in his file is that he spent six months working on a joint case with the French Ministry. He only returned a month ago."

"Do you know the substance of that joint investigation?"

"The file just says they were investigating the sale of bogus magical artifacts that supposedly had originated from Beauxbatons. It quickly transpired that Beauxbatons still had their artifacts and the investigation appeared to drive the criminals to ground. No arrests were made, but no more bogus sales were reported, either. Stowe met Minister LeDoux during that investigation, and received a very favorable recommendation from LeDoux."

"Well, that may be where he went bad. Did you find anything that interested you in Bron Turner's file?"

"He's been an auror for thirty-six years. A fairly steady rise through the corps, and good words from all of his superiors and the Ministers he served under. Came without a Hogwarts recommendation, but that's not unusual, since he didn't join the aurors right out of school. He had worked as a commercial agent for the Black's shipping firm for several years, and then as sort of a security aide for Gringotts for two years. The bank gave him a glowing recommendation. He was a Slytherin at Hogwarts and got his first job largely based upon the recommendation of Professor Zabini. No black marks on his record, whatsoever. Minister Shacklebolt apparently worked with him in the auror corps and appreciated his diligence on a number of cases, leading to his getting the job heading his guard. He does not appear to have been a particular favorite of Thicknesse. Nothing stands out as a red flag. I know Minister Shacklebolt trusted him."

"Very well, that doesn't seem to help us much, either. Have you discovered anything else that we should discuss?"

"No, Sir."

"Well then, thanks very much for the update, and please keep pressing ahead. This is an urgent matter. Let me know when you have something else to report."

"Yes, Minister." And with that, they were gone.

"Well, what do you think?" Dad asked us, collectively.

"This Bron seems a bit dodgier than Bill," Ron replied. Harry and I nodded agreement.

"He's got a girl's name," burbled out of my mouth. I got silence and a stern look in response.

"Well, I'll be careful what he works on, for the meantime," Dad assured us. "It may be good to task him with being our liaison to the investigation on the French side. I'll tell him that I want him to follow up on exactly what Stowe was doing while he was in France, and how much contact he had with LeDoux and his hand-picked aurors". With that, Dad wrote a note for his aide. "Now let's get back and check on Hermione and her parents. What is she planning on doing with them?"

"We thought we might take them either to Hogwarts or Shell Cottage," I replied.

"On the whole, I think Hogwarts will be safer," Dad replied.

"We could also stash them at Grimmauld Place," Harry offered.

"I doubt they'd be happy there for long, but that is a safe and reasonable place for them to wait, while you figure out something better," Dad answered him.

Hermione and her parents were chatting happily when we rejoined them. "We were about to go down to the commissary to get something to eat," Hermione explained brightly.

Dad rejected that idea. "I think it wiser not to let too much of the Ministry staff see your parents. I'll order some food and you can eat in my ante-room. Meanwhile, we need to decide where you're off to. Harry suggested that your parents stay at Grimmauld place for a few days, while you work out arrangements with Professor McGonagall."

Hermione didn't seem pleased with that suggestion, causing her mother to give her a nudge and a raised eyebrow, asking "what is the problem?"

"It's just that Grimmauld Place is such a Grim Old place. And besides, it's the house you were taken to when the Blacks had you confunded. I wouldn't want you to relive those bad memories, with Kreacher, and Narcissa Black, and the screaming portrait of Mrs. Black to make things worse."

"I'm really sorry, Hermione, it was my suggestion and a stupid one. I just wasn't thinking about past connections to the house, just that it would be secure," Harry apologized almost apoplectically, as he realized the enormity of his blunder. "I guess the best approach is to take them back to Hogwarts with us."

The Minister's aide stuck her head into the room. "Director Sprout, from St. Mungo's, is in the Entry Hall demanding to see you right away, Sir."

"That's fine. Very nice of him to personally report on the Minister's condition. Ask him to join us in the conference room, and, if you would, Prudence, send up Madam Bones if she's still in the building. You might let her know that it's about that unusual crime that I mentioned to her earlier."

"Very good, Sir."

"Hermione, if you would stay in my office, with your parents, I may have need of your mother's testimony quite soon. The rest of you can stay with me for my meeting with the Director."

We sat down in the conference room and Prudence appeared shortly, with Madam Bones and a trolley with coffee, tea, and biscuits. "The Director should be here, momentarily. I'll go fetch him from the elevator. Would you like me to stay and take notes?"

"Thank you, Prudence. That will be most helpful."

"What is this crime, and does it involve the Director of St. Mungo's?" asked Madam Bones.

"I don't really know the precise answer to either of your questions, Amelia. I think it best that you just listen and see how things develop. Oh, here comes Prudence with Director Sprout."

"I'm very sorry to disturb you in the midst of this crisis, Minister, but I fear that your, um, possibly not fully considered, actions this morning may precipitate a bit of a crisis at St. Mungo's as well. So, begging your pardon, I thought I had best pop right over and have a chat with you right away, to see how we can best, um, smooth things over and prevent an, um, unfortunate repetition. I, uh, wasn't expecting such a crowd."

"Of course, Doctor, but I'm a little disappointed. I had assumed that you stopped by to give me a personal update on the condition of Minister Shacklebolt. I'm sorry for the crowd, but all of these people are intimately involved in the matter at hand. Let me introduce them. Please take a seat and help yourself to tea or coffee from the trolley, a pastry as well, if your diet permits."

I noticed that Dad failed to introduce Amelia Bones. Really, he just said "these are my children, Ron and Ginny, and their friend Harry." The Director took no notice in any case.

"Yes, um, thank you, and I'm glad to meet all of you. I'm Doctor Marcus Sprout. Some of you may know my sister. She's a Professor at Hogwarts. Um, to the business at hand, I understand that this morning you allowed one of the junior doctors on my staff to remove a confundus charm that a caring family had asked us to place upon their child, to ease her way into the Muggle world. I'm told you over-rode the warning of the physician's assistant and didn't allow him to apparate back to the hospital to confer with me, before the, um, damage was done, so to speak. Is that true?"

"Well, partially, but not entirely. I didn't permit your doctor to proceed, I ordered him to do so. And you certainly didn't expect me to allow a stranger to apparate from the Acting Minister's office, did you? Of course my aurors stopped him. It would have been a gross breach of security. And surely a doctor's assistant can't countermand a doctor's best judgment as to appropriate treatment, can he?"

"But, and this is a delicate matter Sir, the assistant works almost exclusively in a specialized unit, that assists the, um, Great Families, in delicately handling the problem of their children who turn out to be, um, who turn out to lack magical powers. We feel it is our duty to help these children to lead a full, happy, and productive life in the Muggle world, and we are able to perform confundus charms to ensure that this is, indeed, what happens. We never perform this service without the family's assurance that our new patient will be well looked after in his or her new life as a Muggle.

"You can understand the need for absolute confidence and our assurance that the confundus charm will never be reversed. To breach confidence would result in families not consulting St. Mungo's in these cases. We would either see these unfortunate children locked away in basements or subjected to amateur confundus spells, which might have very catastrophic consequences. I fear, Sir, that your actions this morning caused a serious breach of the hospital's obligations to the families whom we serve in this matter. I need your assurance that there won't be a repetition of this unfortunate incident. I also must insist, in my professional capacity as Director of St. Mungo's, that you make this poor woman available to me, so that I can restore the confundus charm, and let her get on about, what I understand was a happy married life as a medical professional among the Muggles."

"I can certainly produce the woman, but first, let me ask you, are you certain that you have carefully reviewed and fully understand the particulars of her case, and the reason that your institution confunded her in the first place?"

"Of course. I've reviewed the record. Everything was in order prior to your interference. Dr. Wright never should have been called into a case such as this. I am personally responsible for all special confunding cases, such as this one. I didn't come myself, because as you are aware, I was caring for Minister Shacklebolt. Your request for medical assistance spoke of a patient suffering from an Imperius Curse and an amateur confunding, very dangerous I must add, that said amateur was unable to properly reverse."

"Well, of course I had no way of knowing that this was a case of what you call a 'special confunding' when I sent for medical assistance, and there certainly was an Imperius Curse involved. Dr. Wright still seems to have been the right man for the job. He very successfully removed all three curses. Did your records state which doctor applied the initial 'special confunding' spell, by the way?"

"Why, yes, this was one of the first cases that I undertook, when I joined St. Mungo's. The confunding was conducted by my mentor, Dr. Brown, but I assisted him. That's why I'm so aware of the particulars, and know just how harmful your actions of this morning could be to this unfortunate woman."

"Well, this was a matter of state security, since the Imperius Curse was applied by the Death Eaters. I believe their motive was to turn her into a spy or an assassin to kill Harry Potter. That's why Harry is here."

"Oh, I see. Well, that would certainly explain your actions, and I do apologize for being so presumptuous as to question them, but I hope you can understand that the integrity of St. Mungo's is at stake?"

"Yes, I have to say that I grasped that fact quite some time ago."

"Then, if you've gotten all the security information that you needed from this woman, can you please bring her in, so that I can reinstall the confundus?"

"What if she is opposed to being confunded again?" Dad asked, in a very reasonable tone.

"Has she objected? I don't see why. There was no question about the wisdom of the original decision to confund her, and she certainly has led a happy life since that time."

"As a matter of fact, she would prefer not to be confunded. Her husband and daughter agree with her decision."

"Um, I see. That does pose a predicament. The hospital also has a duty to her parents and family. It would be most embarrassing for them to have a squib linked to the family. There really is no other choice, but to restore the spell. It would be seen as a serious breach of the hospital's responsibility to the parents and family, really to our understanding with all of the Great Families, to do anything else. I hope you don't force me to take legal action to resolve the issue. There really is no provision for changing your mind in these matters. The situation has never arisen in my memory for the squib to have a second choice in the matter. There are simply too many lives involved."

"Then the young girl, I hope you will allow me not to refer to her as a squib, consented to be confunded the first time?"

"Of course, Sir, I can personally assure you of that. The law requires that the family must demonstrate to two doctors in question that the child is indeed a squib and the doctor must obtain independent consent from the child."

"Yes, I thought I had read that. Well, let me summon the woman and her family. Could you fetch them, please, Prudence?"

Madam Bones had a few moments to raise her eyebrows, imploring for more of an explanation, but Dad shook his head no. We sat in silence, until Prudence returned with Hermione and her parents.

"You see before you the woman in question," Dad grandly announced. "I wonder, Mrs. Granger, if you would be kind enough to borrow Hermione's wand and show Dr. Sprout, here, what your daughter has taught you while you waited for us?"

"Yes, let's see if I can repeat it. It is very difficult and new to me." With that, she pointed the wand at Hermione, pronounced 'leviosum' and raised her daughter about three feet off the ground. As she turned toward Dad to say, "how's that," Hermione fell to the floor in a heap.

"Hmm," Dad said. "She lacks formal training, but she certainly doesn't seem like a squib to me. I'm told her mother and stepfather reported that she performed all sorts of unexplained magic as a nine year old."

"I don't understand," Dr. Sprout almost choked. "Dr. Brown certainly checked her for magical talent."

"I'm not so sure of that. Nor am I sure that the girl ever assented to the treatment, but allow her to tell her own story."

Mrs. Granger told the tale, and Dr. Sprout got redder and more worried looking as the tale unfolded.

"I assure you, I had no idea that this was the case," Dr. Sprout pleaded.

"You assured me that you assisted in the initial procedure and examination," Dad replied calmly. "It's clear that the law wasn't followed and that a poor girl was treated as a squib because her father's wife couldn't stand the embarrassment of having a half-blood in her family. Mrs. Black was almost fanatical on the subject of Muggles and half-bloods. It would seem that St. Mungo's performed an illegal service for the Blacks, likely for a very large sum of money. My only interest is in learning how frequently this sort of thing occurs, and as you say, preventing a repetition of the unfortunate event. I think we will need to review your records of 'special confundings'."

"That would be very unwise, and likely an illegal violation of the hospital's confidentiality with its patients. You're trying to make this a political issue. You are new enough to your position that you may not realize that being acting Minister does not confer any right to search confidential patient records."

Madam Bones spoke for the first time. "But he is responsible for insuring that crimes are adequately investigated. When there is strong evidence that an individual or organization has committed a crime, he is responsible for making sure a determination is made as to whether that individual or organization has committed other similar crimes."

"You sound like you're his lawyer. Should I send for my lawyer?"

"In a way I am, and perhaps you should, although I suspect the Minister is more interested in a resolution of the situation that will be less painful to you and the hospital than in involving lawyers.

"I thought you recognized me, although perhaps you still think I'm dead. I'm Madam Amelia Bones, newly reappointed Director of the Office of Magical Law Enforcement. I was actually a patient in your hospital for two weeks, up until three days ago, although I confess I was in disguise. Your Doctor Wright did a terrific job. I feel almost myself again. Anyhow, I know my staff has worked with your hospital. I very much doubt you want me to get involved officially in my capacity as a lawyer'"

"I'm sorry, of course I know you. I just didn't recognize you… you look so much older than I remember… Forgive me, I shouldn't have said that. This whole affair has upset my temperament. I'm not quite myself. If we can avoid legal formalities, of course I agree that we should." Doctor Sprout beat a hasty retreat to the refreshment cart. He fiddled with the lemon for his tea for a good couple of minutes, before continuing, "exactly what is it that you are looking for?"

"I'll certainly need to see all of your files related to Mrs. Granger, and I suspect the Minister needs to see a list of all the other 'special confundings' and some way of establishing that the 'patients' you treated were actually squibs who had agreed to be confunded. Does that sum it up Minister?"

"Yes, that will do very nicely."

"I can give you the file on Mrs. Granger. In fact, here it is. For the rest, I will have to consult my lawyer and the representative of the Great Families, who is our liaison on this project."

"And who is that liaison?" Madam Bones inquired.

"I'm not sure that I should answer that. Is it your intention to arrest me? I see aurors have arrived."

"They're just my personal protective squad," Dad replied, "although I guess, if need be, they certainly could arrest you."

"Then, if you're not going to arrest me, I think I'm going to leave."

"Then I think I am going to have you arrested," Madam Bones decided. "If you intend to impede my investigation and alert other potential participants in this crime, then I don't think you leave me any choice. The facts in this case seem quite clear and quite damning."

"Wait, the liaison was Lucius Malfoy, but he's now unavailable, so I guess, if need be, I'd deal directly with Lord Montaigne."

"As luck would have it, Mr. Malfoy is available," Dad asserted. "I'll ask the aurors to bring him to this meeting. I guess you can see why it is necessary for us to investigate this further, since you've had a known Death Eater as your liaison for this program." Dad asked Prudence to arrange for Lucius Malfoy to be summoned.

"I really don't see that it is necessary to examine all the records," Doctor Sprout complained. "This will cause a lot of embarrassment to many of the Great Families and may even raise difficult legal issues regarding inheritance. It could ruin the squibs' successful lives in the Muggle world."

"Why should there be inheritance issues if all of this confunding was handled according to the law?" Dad asked.

"Well, just to give a for instance, if the squib in question were a first born, especially a first born male, and the family didn't want to draw embarrassment by specifically disinheriting the squib in their will, well the squib might have a valid claim to the estate, contrary to the parent's wishes. It's possible that the leader of one of the Great Families would lose his position."

"By which, I take it to mean that you are fairly sure of such an instance," Dad flatly asserted.

"I'm not a lawyer, but yes, I think that is possible."

"Which family?" asked Madam Bones.

"In good conscience, I really can't answer that."

Break, break, break

It is natural to ask 'why go through the contortions of bringing Amelia Bones back to life'. I'm not totally sure that this was the wisest choice, but see her as a focus of inter-generational tension. Harry has nothing but bad memories of her and his circle sympathizes with his view that she is an unethical persecutor of innocent children. To their parents' generation, she was a loyal friend, member of the Order, and an early martyr of the second Voldemort war. It is unsurprising that Arthur would quickly return her to the job from which she was violently removed. There aren't all that many members of the Order left and Arthur is starved for the presence of old friends.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three – Confessions Which We Know To Be True**

Lucius Malfoy entered the room. "Say nothing more," he ordered. He asked for and received a reprise of everything that had transpired. He asked no questions and just sat for several minutes before commenting.

"Certainly what you have discovered is a travesty of justice, and I deplore it as much as you do. This situation will have to be made right. I was unaware that any of the Families were using this program to hide Wizards. I won't accuse you of attacking the Great Families for your own political benefit. You clearly stumbled across this particular case by accident. I can understand that having stumbled upon a case that is this egregious, you wonder whether this is typical and members of the Great Families routinely skate around the legal requirements, but I promise you that this case is extremely unique. I know of no other, although I didn't know of this case, either, but I trust the good intentions of most of the Great Families. I think you'll agree that, even in this case, Mrs. Granger was very well provided for. The Blacks made sure that she had a loving adoptive family, money to attend schools all the way through to her dental license, and money to start her private practice. Yes, the Blacks saved themselves some embarrassment and, yes, they apparently knowingly broke the law, but they did provide for the child. I hope you don't choose to make this a political issue, just because many members of the Great Families initially supported Voldemort. I think most of them regret that decision as much as I do. You know that I gave up the battle while it still appeared Voldemort would win. Were it not for my wife, Mr. Potter here would not be alive. I'm hoping you are open to a reasonable solution of this matter. I take encouragement from the fact that you have not had me shipped off to Azkaban and have isolated me from the Death Eater supporters that you have in custody. I am perfectly willing to help you in this and other matters. In that regard, I hope I am correct in assuming that my wife and son remain safe."

"Perfectly safe," Harry replied.

"I assure you that I have no desire to attack the Great Families or to make a political issue of this, but I do intend to make sure justice is done and that the law on 'special confunding' is strictly followed going forward," Dad told Lucius.

"I can certainly support that goal," Lucius said, "and I assume any cooperation that I give, will be counted to my credit?"

"Of course," Dad replied.

"Well then, might I suggest that Dr. Sprout go back to the hospital, accompanied by one of your aurors, and return with all of the 'special confunding' records, from say, the past seventy years? Might I also suggest that you assure Dr. Sprout that if he cooperates in your investigation that he will not be arrested and that the Families involved will be allowed to confidentially make restitution to any persons who have been mistreated? You would, of course, have the right to review and approve that restitution, with a view toward minimum disruption and embarrassment to the Families."

Madam Bones looked at Dad, who nodded yes. "That is acceptable, Mr. Malfoy," she replied.

Dad asked one of his aurors to accompany Dr. Sprout to the hospital. After they left, we sat and looked at Lucius in silence. He was looking a little thinner than when last I saw him.

"Professor McGonagall sees a benefit in your rehabilitation," Harry ventured. "Of course, that's difficult with Death Eaters still abroad."

"I assure you, I don't know where they are," Malfoy responded. "I'm certainly more than willing to play a role in bringing the Wizarding world together. Can't do a lot from jail, of course, but I'll do what I can here on this particular case. I understand you have a personal interest in this case. It would raise the status of your friend Hermione. It would appear that she wasn't really a Muggle born."

"I don't think Hermione ever felt that it was a bad thing to be Muggle born," Harry replied.

"No, I doubt she ever did. Nor do I suspect that you or your companions here, or even our Acting Minister, ever viewed that as a mark against her. That is just another sign of how much Wizards have strayed from the traditional ways and the sway that the Great Families used to hold over all Wizards. It wasn't just that we thought of ourselves as superior, because of our pure bloodedness. The Muggle-born and mixed-parentage Wizards also once shared that view. I know you think it strange that I can't bring myself to accept your point of view. McGonagall asked me how someone who was as obviously at home in the Muggle world as I am could so look down upon Muggle-born Wizards and be so intent upon keeping Muggle influences out of the Wizarding world.

"I gave her two honest answers. One world is where I work, and the other is where I live and raise my son. Wizards of the Great Houses have always had to mix with Muggles as part of commerce. It does not follow that we wish to have the Muggle world contaminate our families. The other reason is that, as a Wizard, I feel superior to my Muggle business associates and that makes it easier to justify sharp business practices. I also know that if they knew my true background, that they would feel superiority to me, if not outright loathing. I prefer the traditional Wizarding ways. That is why, although I intend to give Draco the choice, I'd be most happy if he chose to focus on the estate rather than follow me into the City business. I still intend to earn enough to save the estate. I know Shacklebolt is hell-bent on dividing it into little pieces, so that I have no chance of ever reclaiming it, but I don't sense that you are that determined, Arthur."

"It really doesn't matter to me one way or the other," Dad replied. "I see a plus in giving land to the poorer Wizard tenant farmers. I'm not a believer is huge disparities of income, but I don't begrudge you your estate. I opposed you for your politics and disliked you for your arrogant cruelty. I've never measured myself by how much money or power I had, so I've never been jealous of you. I'm not in a rush to divide up the estate. The Ministry needs revenue, and the estate will give you something to work toward. The taxes on your Muggle-world income will come in handy. It may even be a better way to help the small farmers."

"I'd like to see my family."

"If you are cooperative, that can be arranged. That's assuming that they are willing to see you. I suspect Narcissa would be willing to talk to you, but Harry says Draco is very angry."

Turning to Harry, Lucius asked directly, "Certainly Draco knows that he was never in danger from my attempt to liberate him from Hogwarts, doesn't he? It seems like a silly matter to cause so much anger that he won't talk to his father."

"I don't know exactly how he feels about your raid," Harry replied. "That isn't the primary source of his anger. I think he honestly prefers your wife to you and sees you as a threat to his mother. The strongest source of his anger concerns your dealings with Pansy and your determination to marry him off to a Montaigne girl, whom he strongly dislikes."

"Well, that's a pretty childish reason for an aristocrat to hate his father. Would it shock you to learn that Narcissa wasn't my choice of a marriage partner, either? With the money and the power and the privilege of being the eldest son of the head of a Great Family comes the obligation to marry in a way that maintains the family position for the next generation. All in all, it's not a bad bargain. I've enjoyed my life. Draco would find diversions if he got bored with the Montaigne girl, and I agree that she could very quickly become boring. In return for marrying her and having a child or two together, he could be the most powerful Wizard of his generation. I know he likes Pansy. It's not at all impossible that he could have her on the side. I hope I'm not insulting the ladies by saying this, but it won't hurt them to know how at least a part of the Wizard world works. Narcissa and I have basically gone our separate ways for over a decade. Pansy is really not a good enough reason for Draco to be estranged from me. I blame myself for taking Draco with me on trips to my office in the City. He saw too much of the Muggle world. Most of your generation has been poisoned to some extent by the Muggle world. It isn't merely the rampant sex. Young Wizards have had their National Geographics at the Ministry library, since my day. It is all this prattling on about some supposed right to marry for love on the part of the Muggle royal family. That wouldn't have happened in my day. I blame Prince Charles."

"Well," Harry said, "I think Draco could likely get past your wanting him to forget Pansy and court the Montaigne girl, but he has learned the whole history of you and Pansy. What has him so angry is that you paid Pansy to spy on him and to be his girlfriend. He finds it sneaky and demeaning, as if you don't think he could get a girlfriend on his own."

"Oh, and I take it he heard this tale from Pansy, herself. It's not strictly true. I hired Pansy to spy on him, but I never asked her to be his girlfriend. In fact, I specifically demanded that she stop trying to become his girlfriend and just report back what she could observe and learn at a distance. This girlfriend business was entirely Pansy's idea."

"He also knows that you sent Umbridge to murder Pansy or him."

"I didn't send Umbridge to murder anyone. I simply blackmailed her to hand-deliver a message to Pansy to give to Draco. Why would I want to murder either of them?"

"Why was Umbridge carrying a vial of poison, along with your message?"

"I have no idea. She must have been playing her own game. Likely she was closer to the Death Eaters than I thought."

"You didn't know that she wore the Dark Mark?"

"I most certainly did not! I never would have sent her to Hogwarts had I known that, and I'll make certain that she regrets betraying me. Why would I want any Death Eater close to my son? I don't want to see him murdered. That really was the whole purpose of my raid on Hogwarts. I wanted to get my son to a secret place, where I knew he would be safe. I distrust your McGonagall's ability to protect him."

"Umbridge is dead. And, there's another hitch in Professor McGonagall's plan for your rehabilitation. Her opinion of your ability to reform took a blow with the attack on Hogwarts, especially with the assault on Mr. Filch. He was fairly seriously hurt."

"I never liked Filch, but I certainly didn't assault him."

"Your co-conspirator did."

"No, he was with me all the time. I know you must know it was my estate manager. If Draco is as angry as you say, he surely told you this."

"Yes, he did. But you had a second co-conspirator, who attacked Mr. Filch, while you and the estate manager were attacking us."

"You probably won't believe me, but no, it was just the estate manager and me, and we had no reason to attack Filch."

"You and your wife each wanted the wands that were turned in to Filch, including the Voldemort wand that you hid and Bellatrix's wand."

"Why would anyone want Bellatrix's wand? It is of no value. As for Voldemort's, yes I hid it, but Draco was to bring it to me. He disregarded my instructions."

"Umbridge lost a wand fight before she delivered the note. Draco didn't see the note until Voldemort's wand was long gone."

"Ah. I honestly don't know who attacked Filch. You're welcome to give me Veritaserum. I want to cooperate, get out of here, and get my family and my estate back. If I stay in here, the allies of the Death Eaters will eventually get to me."

"I do believe you on that last point," Dad interjected, after following the prior discussion with amusement. "I see Dr. Sprout has rejoined us. I think he could do with a dose of Veritaserum, as well."

Dr. Sprout was carrying a big pile of files and the auror was carrying a second, equally large pile. "The easiest way to do this, without embarrassing a lot of people, is for you to swallow a dose of Veritaserum and scan these files for us. Do you accept that proposal?"

"As long as nothing I say will be used to prosecute me and you restrict your questions to the matter at hand."

"Agreed. Hermione, could you fetch your supply of Veritaserum?"

Hermione reached into her bag for the serum. We watched Dr. Sprout swallow it, and we waited. It seemed to have taken effect, but we waited just a little longer.

"As I understand it, you began working as Dr. Brown's assistant about 40 years ago. Is that correct?"

"Yes, it was just a little over 41 years ago."

"And how many years were you his assistant, before taking over the program yourself?"

"I assumed full control almost exactly thirty years ago."

"In your thirty years of control, were there any cases in which you confunded a child with magical abilities, or failed to adequately check for magical abilities, or confunded a child without receiving permission from that child?"

"No. Well, never intentionally, although a few times I did not conduct an adequate examination."

"Okay, now go through the files for the time since you assumed full control, and pull out the ones for which your examination might have been inadequate. We'll review those individually."

Dr. Sprout slowly examined what I counted to be 102 files. Of this number, he had set aside seven as questionable.

"Now then, in the prior eleven plus years that you served as Dr. Brown's assistant, were there any cases in which you can't tell us for certain that all the legal requirements were followed?"

"Yes, quite a few. Do you want me to separate those files as well?"

He went through that stack of files at a much slower pace, pulling aside fifteen of the 30 files.

"Thank you, we'll look at these files in more detail. You are welcome to take the others back with you. We have no further need of them. Now there are still some files left in the stack. I take it these are cases that Dr. Brown handled before you joined his team, covering a period of about thirty years. Are there any files in this stack that you can say, for certain, represent cases that fully complied with the law?"

"No. Dr. Brown was not a stickler for legalities."

"Okay, put those files next to the pile for review. Let's move on to the seven that you set aside from your watch. I'd like you to review them for me, one by one, and tell me how your procedures deviated from the legal requirements."

"Okay, let me say to start that I tested for magical capabilities in every case except this one here. I wanted to do a more thorough examination, but the parents were very forceful and demanded that I stop wasting time and get on with the confunding. I had only been in charge for a year and was more intimidated than I should have been."

"Please pass that file to Madam Bones. Now on the other six…"

"I asked the child if he or she agreed with the plan for them to be confunded and set up with a good life in the Muggle world. I did not, however, ask them that question out of their parents' hearing, as the law required me too. I regret that error. These cases were also relatively early during my time in charge. There was one case from my second year, where I ignored a hint that the child might not be fully in agreement with being confunded. I didn't have the courage to oppose the parents."

"Please give that file to Madam Bones. You may take the other five away with you. Let's move on to the fifteen files from your time as an assistant. Please review those for us."

"There were three cases where the child was never tested for magical abilities. There were another four in which I was not convinced that the testing had been adequate. These others were cases where the child did not consent outside of the parents' presence. I was very suspicious in two other cases, where the child was not tested at all."

"Okay, that's nine cases that seem highly dubious. Please pass those files to Madam Bones. You may take the others back with you. That pile of files from before you joined Dr. Brown, how many files are there?"

"There are only thirty."

"You had best give those to Madam Bones, as well. Tell me, for how many years did Dr. Brown run the program, before you joined him as an assistant?"

"Almost forty-two years."

"So that's a little over twenty years of files that we don't have before us. Please write a note instructing your assistant to give those files to the auror who presents the note to him."

Dr. Sprout wrote the note and Dad sent an auror off to the hospital with the note.

"Now then, Dr. Sprout, am I correct in assuming that you have run this program in full accordance with the law for at least the past twenty years and that you pledge to scrupulously abide by the letter of the law in future?"

"I have and I will."

"That's fine. When the auror returns with the remaining files, you are free to leave and take the files in front of you back to the hospital. I don't see any reason to prosecute you or to ask you to step down from any of your duties at the hospital. Do you concur, Amelia?"

"I do. It seems that Dr. Sprout now is running an honest program."

I felt Harry touch my wrist. {[excited, very eager] Do you think your Dad would mind if I asked Sprout some questions?}

I made a hand gesture to indicate that this would be fine.

"May I ask a question," Harry asked. Getting a positive nod from Dad, he continued. "Do you know anything about the attack on the shop in Diagon Alley?"

"No, only what I read in a newspaper, and that question doesn't relate to the matter at hand."

"Sorry, you commented earlier that the head of one of the Great Families might be viewed as illegitimate, if knowledge of the 'special confundings' was revealed. Which family?"

"I remind you that the Minister has promised that this information would be used only to provide anonymous restitution for those who were harmed. I assume that all present are bound by the Minister's promise. I don't fully trust the secret keeping ability of children."

"We are no longer children and we will honor the Minister's promise."

"The family is the Montaigne family. I'm sure you recognize the sensitivity of what I just said. The ability of the Wizard world to remain hidden from the Muggles depends upon the Montaignes maintaining their position in the Muggle world, as well as in ours. To reveal this secret would surely harm us all."

"We've kept a lot of secrets," Harry assured Dr. Sprout.

There were no further questions. Dr. Sprout took his files and departed. Without an auror to assist him, he was struggling to manage the pile. We waited for the next batch of files.

The auror returned and Dad asked him how many files he had. The answer was "eleven".

"I realized one thing we need that got away when Dr. Sprout took back the other files," Harry observed. "It seems that the number of cases has risen sharply over the past eighty years. It would help us a lot on another project that we're considering if we could have an accurate year-by-year count since the program began. I guess we don't know how long it's been in operation. Dr. Brown may not have been the doctor who began the program."

"Digging deeply into the past wasn't a part of the deal," Lucius objected. "What good can it do to muck up dirt about the Families, when everyone involved is dead? This was to be about restitution for the living."

"Well, some of those children in question would only be ninety today. That's not overly old for a Wizard, although they may not have survived that long in the Muggle world. But, I agree with your general point. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. I'm not concerned with names or even specific families, this is just evidence in a, um, I guess you could best call it a project about Wizard genetics and the problems it suggests for the future of the diminished Wizard populations, here and elsewhere. It is not even information to be made public, but it is something that would suggest necessary policy changes. It would be adequate to simply know how many cases there were each year in the history of the program."

"I know what you're thinking. You want to know if the percentage of squibs in the Great Families has increased. I can tell you that it has in fact increased, but it might help to know by how much and to determine a cause and solution. Don't think I haven't considered the possible genetic basis for magical powers. I do more than earn money in the Muggle world. I'm willing to suggest to Dr. Sprout that he provide you the information you seek, provided you promise to treat the information discreetly."

"Agreed."

Dad recaptured command of the meeting. "Now then, Lucius, it's time for you to decide whether or not you are willing to be questioned with Veritaserum. Nothing you say would be used to prosecute you and it may increase the chances of your getting a quick visit with your family. Among other things, you need to swear that you won't use the visits to harm your family in any way, to pass information pertinent to our fight with the Voldemort/Grindelwald factions, or to escape. You will also be questioned on this matter with Doctors Brown and Sprout, and whatever you know of the plans and possible locations of the Voldemort/Grindelwald factions. Amelia will assure that all proceeds fairly."

"I have no objection, Arthur. I am no longer on good terms with my former Death Eater friends. I assume they have already acted in accordance with a belief that I have long since had any potentially useful information extracted from me. They would view Shacklebolt and you as excessively weak were they to learn how well I have been treated since my capture. Even Scrimgouer whisked me off to Azkaban for less than you've got on me, so go ahead. I simply warn you that you will be disappointed about the quantity of useful information that I possess."

Hermione produced the final bit of our Veritaserum stash, giving us yet another reason for a hasty retreat to Hogwarts. Again, we sat and waited an excessive amount of time, to be certain that the serum had ample time to do its work, before Dad took up the questioning.

"Now then Lucius, let's start with the visits to your family. Will you honestly agree with the limits I stated: that you will not try to escape, harm your family, or make use of any information you acquire or pass in either direction to harm either a member of your family or one of us, or to assist the Voldamort/Grindelwald faction?"

"I sincerely promise to abide by those limits."

"When did the squib project with which Doctors Brown and Sprout were associated begin, and who started it?"

"It was started by the great grandfathers of Lord Montaigne and myself, along with Dr. Brown's grandfather. I'd say nearly 200 years ago, although it was a much smaller and rather informal program at its inception. Great Families in need learned of its existence. I'd guess there were informal arrangements much earlier."

"Are you aware of any instances of the sort of injustices, which we are trying to identify, with regard to this program?"

"I know that back in Dr. Brown's day there was a Montaigne heir dealt with through the program, who otherwise might well have inherited a good portion of the Montaigne money, since I believe there was no mention of disinheriting him in the will. I believe it was a squib older brother of the present Lord Montaigne. It is very tricky both because of the handing down of the Lordship, as well as Wizard inheritance. I have no direct personal knowledge of the matter. My father informed me, in case I ever needed something to persuade Lord Montaigne to recognize the wisdom of my position on a matter. I haven't had need to use this knowledge, but had thought it felicitous to arrange Draco's entrance into the Montaigne family, with perhaps more of an inheritance to the daughter than would be typical.

"There were two other cases involving Dr. Brown which my father had occasion to mention to me. They both involved what may or may not have been squibs in the Gaunt family, going back some seventy and ninety years ago. I've never mentioned this to anybody before, because of the obvious dangers presented by the link to Voldemort. But that was the reason why I was initially willing to follow Voldemort, despite his half-blood status. One of the cases was a boy, who was adopted by a kind wealthy neighbor woman who wanted to have a child. This particular case is highly unusual because the boy was sent for adoption before he was even a month old. My father heard rumors of incest. That boy became the Riddle lord of the manor and Voldemort's father. The other case was a daughter, who was sent into the Muggle world a little over 70 years ago. My father was intimately familiar with that case. It again appeared to involve incest, or something unusual, because the daughter was sent away at only a little over a year of age.

"The Gaunt's were not a family to be trifled with, or one to put much stock in rules. In both cases, the doctor reportedly feared for his life if he undertook the legal precautions. He also viewed his actions as benign, being convinced the Gaunts would simply murder the child if they didn't get their way. Those are the only serious infractions I'm aware of. Most leaders of the Great Families are a good deal more reasonable than Madam Black or the Gaunts. The Montaignes, while eminently reasonable, are very used to getting what they want."

"Thank you, Lucius. Could you go through these piles of files which have been pulled aside for investigation, and pull out any that you are sure do not represent serious wrong doing?"

Lucius did so, reducing the number of cases requiring investigation by more than half. Harry whispered to Dad that he wished to ask a question, and Dad nodded assent.

"Mr. Malfoy, how does the New Start Society fit into all of this?"

"That is the organization that was created in the Muggle world to fund the needs of the squibs who were placed there. It provided support to adoptive parents, foster care if needed, tuition for whatever education the child desired, funds to start a business, or buy a home, or pay for a wedding. In some cases it provided a yearly stipend for the lifetime of the child. Lord Montaigne is the lead Director and I am a Director and Treasurer. The other board members are well-intentioned Muggles, some of them the squibs, themselves. The day-to-day operations are managed by a squib by the name of Lee Atticus. He is most reliable.

"The Society was to be supported by a fee charged to Great Families who placed children under its care, but Lord Montaigne and I have had to supplement it with money we have earned in the Muggle world. Families such as the Gaunts or Parkinsons could not possibly have afforded the full fee, and were charged a token amount."

"In these cases of injustice which we need to investigate, can you identify the children and their descendents through the Society's records, and will you do so."

"Yes, I will, although I'm sure you're aware that I can do little to help from my little jail cell."

"Did you hide Bellatrix's wand at Hogwarts, and why did you hide Voldemort's wand?"

"I did not hide Bellatrix's wand. As I said before, it is of no value. I hid Voldemort's wand, hoping Draco could smuggle it out of Hogwarts. Narcissa had already hatched her plan to protect Draco in McGonagall's care. I was sure I could trade the wand to Thicknesse in return for his undertaking an unbreakable vow to protect Draco. I also didn't want a read out of the wand to possibly incriminate me, from the time when I was its owner. What I did, mainly torturing Ollivander, I was coerced to do by Voldemort, but all the wand would record was that it performed the crime."

"Did you have any other reason for breaking into Hogwarts, other than to grab Draco, and did you really have only one accomplice?"

"I only had my estate manager helping me. If I could have trusted more Wizards, I would have brought them. I wanted to find Umbridge and deal with her. It was clear that she had betrayed me. I wanted to find out how, and to whom, and to get her away from Draco. I did not intend to harm you or your friends. I'm not quite sure what I would have done with Pansy, if I had succeeded in dealing with the rest of you."

In my excitement, I elbowed Harry in the ribs a little harder than I had planned. Harry's head snapped toward me and I saw a wince followed by a surprised, then angry look. Oops! I hastened to whisper "I'm really sorry. That was harder than I planned. I just realized..." As Harry shooshed me, I realized that I had totally disrupted his questioning and lapsed into embarrassed silence. I touched Harry's wrist, but he jerked his hand away, before I could pick up anything more than {[pain, extreme annoyance] No!} This upset me so much, that Harry had resumed his questions, by the time I was listening again.

"… role of Mr. Bulstrode and his granddaughter?"

"Nothing of recent interest, although in the past I had paid the granddaughter to spy on Draco and Pansy. I've had no useful intelligence from her in a year, so I stopped payment. If there is any chicanery afoot with those two, it is my wife's game, not mine. Narcissa always had her own spies."

"What is Lord Montaigne's involvement with the Death Eaters?"

"None, as far as I know. He was too timid to risk his standing through an alliance, and couldn't understand why we trusted Voldemort. I almost had him convinced to join the cause after Voldemort took over the Ministry, but when he learned that Voldemort had killed Grindelwald, he became extremely antagonistic. He was a big fan of Grindelwald, but not of the alliance of convenience between many of the Grindelwald and Voldemort supporters. When he learned we had made a deal with the Giants, he was appalled. He abhors Giants and other non-Wizard magical creatures."

"What do you know about the attack on the shop in Diagon Alley?"

"Only what I was able to read in the Daily Prophet, which one of my jailors was kind enough to share with me. He had already soiled it with the remnants of his lunch. I can tell you that the attack sounded like the sort of thing that the Death Eaters used to do to keep people frightened. I don't know the persons who carried out the attack, if that's what you're asking."

"Is it true that you did not ask Pansy to be Draco's girlfriend."

"Of course it is true. Surely you can't believe that I would want my son involved with someone like Pansy. I know my son. He's overly emotional. Any girlfriend is likely to become far too serious."

Harry indicated that he was finished and Dad resumed the questioning. He obtained the locations for properties controlled by the Death Eaters and their associates, the names of those associates, confirmation that there were Voldemort moles in the Ministry and auror core, although he didn't know the names of aurors, other than Tom Stowe. Dad sent his trusted aurors to raid the locations given up by Malfoy. Finally, Dad extracted a pledge that Lucius would not attempt to rejoin, support, or purchase protection from the supporters of Voldemort, Thicknesse, Grindelwald, Hyack, or Gunter Gran Montine. Lucius did not know Gunter's location or true identity. He did give several locations where he had met Meier Hyack in the past. Dad passed those on to Monsieur Delacour.

Harry promised Lucius that he would lobby Draco to meet with him. Lucius allowed, under the influence of the truth serum, that "I never really disliked you, Harry. You were an honest and worthy opponent, if almost fatally naïve. I had always hoped that you would realize that your future lay with the Great Families and that you would have joined Draco in Slytherin. You have more Great House blood in your veins than many of my former Death Eater associates. I think Shacklebolt may have had it right, with his plan to close Slytherin - yes one can still hear a lot while in prison. If you really want to reform the Wizarding world, I'd start by burning that damned Sorting Hat. And I say that not just because you Gryffindors pull a sword from it at the most inopportune times. A wise leader should have assigned the students to Houses. You to Slytherin for sure, also your Dad. If Snape had sorted to Gryffindor, as he certainly should have been, he would be your father and history would be much different. The Sorting Hat is overly partial to the preferences of silly first years.

"The Dark Lord would not have had much of a problem with Neville and his grandmother. Tom Riddle should not have sorted into Slytherin. He spent seven years there and missed the whole essence of our House. Immortality is not to be found in horcruxes, it is to be found in ensuring that your descendants lead a more powerful Great House than the one they and their parents were born into. Riddle never understood that. The fool didn't even leave any offspring, let alone restore the Great Family of the Slytherin/Gaunts. His foolish quest for immortality in his own person left him with a shorter than normal lifespan, and much of it spent in truly ridiculous bodies. I fear that I have yet to teach my own son the true meaning of immortality."

As we prepared to head back to Hogwarts for what Harry described as the "need to discuss the future of Hermione's parents," Hermione and her parents made it entirely clear that they had already held that discussion.

"We've really become quite bored with dentistry," Mrs. Granger asserted. "Twenty-five years of staring into children's mouths and trying to avoid getting bitten is quite enough. We'll sell the house, and we have some money set aside. What we want to do now is see where our daughter goes to school, get to know her friends, discover her other hidden side, and explore my roots. Harold, er, Mr. Granger, has always enjoyed his electrical and mechanical tinkering more than he ever liked dentistry. Hermione says she can set up a shop for him at Hogwarts and perhaps he can help with the instruction in Muggle studies, even if he has to do it after class hours. I'm going to tell Professor McGonagall that I want to be a First Year. Hermione says she can tutor me enough over the summer that I may even be able to start as a Second Year. I don't plan to graduate, just to explore a new world. Of course, I have to be a Gryffindor."

"You go on ahead," I told the others. "Harry and I have to make a quick trip to Diagon Alley. The others lingered to talk to Dad, as I led Harry away. I wondered if, perhaps, I was being a tad rude.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four – Diagon Alley**

As we departed, Harry asked me "okay, where are we going. I know you're really excited, but that really hurt when you elbowed me and I was trying to follow a train of thought in questioning Mr. Malfoy."

"I shouldn't have done that. I admit I was overexcited when Lucius was talking about Bella's wand. Remember, Mom said the wand that was stolen from Mr. Filch wasn't Bella's. She should know, she fought Bella. We have only McGonagall's memory that Bella had a rowan wand. She probably just said that because it was so well known that Bella was crazy."

"You have an excellent point and I agree that we should go to Ollivander's. But, instead of whacking me, you could have just waited your turn and asked Lucius if he knew about a rowan wand which was important enough to be worth stealing."

"Yes, I suppose I could have done that. Please, stop being upset at me."

As we were riding down the Ministry elevator, I touched Harry's wrist to assure myself that he was no longer upset. Unfortunately, he still seemed annoyed and I could sense that his rib still hurt, when he turned to leave the elevator.

I tried to chatter Harry into a better mood as we walked to Ollivander's. He answered back in a lot shorter sentences than I was using, but his mood did seem to be brightening, especially when I led him toward speculation about what Mr. Ollivander might tell us.

Mr. Ollivander was a little surprised to see us, but reacted very well to what I feared he would regard as an unethical question.

"So, you want to know who owned a Witch's rowan wand with a phoenix core," Ollivander repeated my question in a musing, but not offended tone. "There is confidentiality between wandmaker and customer, but if you say this is part of your fight against the Death Eaters, then I will answer you."

"I really think it is," Harry replied, before launching into the full explanation of how this particular wand came to our attention.

"Yes… I can tell you what I know. The Death Eaters broke their customer relationship with me when I was kidnapped. The rowan and the phoenix… that combination is very rare. It is viewed as most embarrassing to require such a wand, but rowan and phoenix can be a most powerful combination. The phoenix makes any rod stronger, but few can manage it. Rowan is another matter. Some say a sign of madness, but not always. If not madness, it certainly does require a deep and persistent anguish to adapt to a rowan wand. Still, customers usually will not accept such a wand. I don't need to check my records. I remember the particulars of this wand quite well. I made it as a second wand for Narcissa Malfoy, while she was still a Hogwarts student. She and her parents came to my shop a week after the start of the Hogwarts term. It was her seventh year. Her wand no longer would perform magic for her and she feared that she would not graduate. She and her parents were most upset. She was not mad, but not at all the Narcissa I had known. I tried many wands similar to the one that I originally matched her with, but her magic was feeble at best. Reluctantly, I tried the rowan. I knew her parents would object, and so they did. They made me try every Witch's wand in my shop, but the only wands that worked were rowan. The phoenix core was the best. She did quite well with it. Her mother was prepared to storm out of my shop, saying that I had impugned the honor of her family. She actually said I was incompetent. The father said that Narcissa must graduate and that this was likely only a temporary situation. They made me stain the wand to disguise its true nature. When they left my shop, the mother said, 'I think this looks quite like walnut'. The father just walked faster.

"I had tried to be encouraging. I certainly did not want to insult good customers. I told them that this sort of thing happened from time to time and usually was caused by a momentary upset. I said I guessed that Narcissa would be able to use her original wand by the time she returned home for the Christmas break. I asked whether poor Narcissa had experienced a recent trauma or severe upset. I got glares instead of answers. I still remember that day. I know nothing more, other than that Narcissa stopped using the rowan wand two years later. She visited me to be, as she said 'refit, with an appropriate wand'. She came alone – I think she feared that I would tell her mother that the rowan was best for her. As I expected, her original wand was best. She had returned to calm Narcissa. Sad, but in complete control."

"Thank you, that is a tremendous help," I told Olivander. "We've been led astray by McGonagall's false memory that the rowan wand belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange."

"No, no, mad for certain that one was, but always able to control a normal wand. An easy mistake for the professor to make."

"Thank you again," Harry said. "Is Seamus in the shop?"

"I sent him shopping for phoenix feathers. He'll be back in two or three hours if you care to wait. I can make tea."

"No thank you, we have to get back to Hogwarts. I just wanted to tell both of you at the same time that it appears as though the phony Elder Wand has been stolen from its hiding place."

"Ah, the fun begins. I eagerly await further news. Goodbye, Harry."

We stepped back into Diagon Alley, joined hands, and were gone. This contact reassured me that Harry was both excited by what we had learned and back to his happy mood.

As we landed just inside the gate, Harry suggested "let's not tell Professor McGonagall about the rowan wand just yet."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five – Also in Diagon Alley**

"You should try a cookie, Barty, they really are most excellent. A little bittersweet chocolate, with the normal semi-sweet chips, really quite remarkable."

"If you want to stay in character, you'd best stop calling me Barty. A very refined old Witch you appear to be, Sir."

"Yes, shall I call you Gertrude? Well, Gertie, it certainly is fine to sit here, sipping our tea, and watching that fool Jordan cleaning up the mess that our bomb made. Looks like that's about half a year's inventory he's hauling out as trash. I do think you made your point. You can call me Pi, by the way. You should be able to remember, and it's nicely ambiguous as to gender, as is this body you've saddled me with. You obviously kept the good hair for yourself. Not to fear, I've chosen a fine hair for you, for our next meeting."

"Sorry, um Pi. There's other good news. Striking Shacklebolt was just the thing. He might have beaten us. Like him or not, Kingsley could always inspire a certain amount of awe, even fear. I can't see Wizards accepting Arthur as their Minister. He'll mess things up before Shacklebolt is back. If he's back. I don't understand how he survived. Still, lying in St. Mungo's just makes him seem weak. He may have been cursed, but St. Mungo's still bears the taint of 'not quite right in the mind'."

"No, Bar, er, Gertie, that was not just the thing. I distinctly remember giving the order that he was not to be touched. I think I told you that I didn't want a martyr. You avoided that catastrophe by dumb luck. You must contain your impatience. When the Dark Lord said to leave Potter alone, he was left alone. The Dark Lord's sort of, shall we say, teaching example, is not in my nature, but I will have discipline."

"Sorry Sir, um Pi. I wasn't working with a hardened Death Eater. The new men are much more difficult to control. They always will improvise, given the slightest justification for doing so. I regret that I seemed to approve of his action. Still, he acted in haste, fearing he would not have another opportunity. The capture of LeDoux was a great shock. There was fear that he would talk. You must admit it ended well. Now Arthur Weasley will advance our cause for us."

"Don't underestimate Weasley, and I think you'll find that LeDoux already talked. Fortunately, he didn't know much. I was right not to fully trust our new friends. Ah, there goes Potter with the young Weasley girl. Potter could still be trouble for us. He has again become something of a hero and he is supporting the administration. Arthur has used his young daughter to hold Potter's allegiance."

"Shall I kill her, Pi? It would be so easy. They're by themselves, in their own little world, not even checking their surroundings. Even if they were to look this way, we don't look like ourselves."

"No… stick to my plan. Will I never succeed in teaching you patience? If we kill the girl, Potter will decide that theirs was a love beyond any love that ever existed before them, and spend the rest of his life avenging her. Given a little time and encouragement he can forget her, probably as easily as he's forgotten Cho. We need someone to take his mind off the Minister's daughter. This sort of puppy love can pass very quickly. When he tires of the daughter, he will want nothing to do with Arthur. The boy has trouble with awkwardness. I'll think on this. You do as you were told. Until next time. Here is your hair, don't lose it, or I won't be able to recognize you at our next meeting. I really am look forward to seeing you. I think that you should leave first, Gertie. Allow me to linger over my tea."

Pius Thicknesse smiled sweetly and left a tip of five knuts as he left the shop. He hated to give knuts to one of Dumbledore's pals, but regarded it as worse to draw attention, even to his disguised self, by being an awful tipper. As he walked back into Diagon Alley, he was pleased with how easy it was to penetrate the very heart of the Wizard community undetected. Realizing his plans might turn out to be a lot easier than he had expected. This made him smile, although it was a queer old-lady smile.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six – Where Our Daughter Goes To School**

We found ourselves not far behind our friends. I heard Ron tell Hermione's parents to get a good look, as we loped across campus to the entry door of the castle. Both parents pronounced the castle "simply fascinating, like something out of a storybook."

"It's a whole new magical world, Mom!"

We walked up the front steps, across the Entry Hall, and on to the Gargoyle. I still had the card that McGonagall had given me, so I whipped it out to gain admittance. I was pleased to see that the moving stairs had been repaired. "This is a very strange statue for a headmaster to greet her students with," declared Mr. Granger, patting the Gargoyle's head.

"Careful Dad, it bites", warned Hermione as we all moved onto the stairs for the trip to the headmaster's office. Harry had the honor of rapping on the door. At the 'enter' call, we all tumbled in, with Hermione hurrying to introduce her mother and father to the headmaster. Professor McGonagall said she had received a written report from the Ministry earlier, but requested a full recounting of all that had happened in Australia and at the Ministry. When we concluded, she told us that the Minister had noted that "Mrs. Granger wishes to enroll at Hogwarts, while Mr. Granger would be pleased to tutor the students in Muggle Studies and the wonders of electricity, in return for space and equipment to re-establish his shop and be allowed to get on with his tinkering." The Minister had said "given past injustices, there is no moral alternative but to honor their requests."

"I'm just trying to figure out," Professor McGonagall concluded, "how this fits in with Minister Weasley's campaign pledge not to interfere in the operation of Hogwarts.

"I don't mind. We've lost students and certainly have room for another, and I am looking for additional professors, but it really was a very peremptory note. So, really, all that I can say is welcome to Hogwarts, Professor and Mrs. Granger. I think we've set a new record for oldest First Year. You can move into Professor Slughorn's old apartment, but when term starts, Mrs. Granger should move into the Gryffindor dorm for about a month until she gets acclimated to the school. A head start this summer should give you a leg up. I know Hermione is determined to teach you enough to start as a second year, but that may not be possible. Still, without distractions like Quidditch and boys, I'm sure you'll do very well here. You've missed dinner, but if you go down to the Great Hall, I'll have the Elves fix something."

We took a leisurely indirect path to the Great Hall, so that Hermione could point out a couple classrooms, the potions lab, Peeves, and Nearly Headless Nick, along with multiple suits of armor and the trophy case. Her parents received all of this with great enthusiasm. "I'm saving the best for tomorrow," Hermione promised. "Since I have privileges for the restricted section, I can show you the entire library, including some very old paintings, drawings, and historical documents that we discovered. I've been doing a ton of exciting historical research."

"I'm sure Mom and I will be thrilled to see all of that," Hermione's father replied.

The tour had brought us to the Great Hall and I was delighted to see that Professor McGonagall had passed word of our arrival to our common room and all of our fellow Gryffindors were seated at the table, waiting to greet us. Hermione's Dad looked up and gasped at a ceiling filled with stars and a sliver of a new moon. He had been staring at the ceiling intently, as if trying to figure it out, but let out a gasp as a shooting star streaked across the ceiling. "It's done by magic," Hermione declared, in response to her father's reaction. "It must have been repaired while we were away."

There were introductions of Gryffindors, whom Hermione's parents had apparently been told about, but had never met. They were perhaps a tad indiscrete in acknowledging that they knew of 'the sad fate of Neville's parents, imagine being locked up in a mental hospital for the rest of your life, and to think that almost happened to us' and even 'that very strange newspaper with all the funny crackpot stories that Luna's father runs', to George 'having been expelled for very unscholarly behavior quite inappropriate to a school, even one run by Dolores Umbridge'.

Hermione was quite red in the face and mildly stuttering by the time introductions were done and she had explained everyone's role in the recent battles and plans for the coming term. Hermione was unusually silent throughout dinner, as Neville filled us in on what had happened at Hogwarts during our absence.

"The poltergeist problem in Slytherin seems to have quieted down a bit more. Draco and Pansy haven't been a problem - they're pleasant enough during meals and then go off to spend their time lying on a blanket under a tree, out of sight of Professor McGonagall's window. There's been a regular procession through here of the remaining members of the Order, even Minister Weasley. They meet in the Headmaster's office and we haven't been included. Something is stirring, but neither Professor McGonagall nor Professor Weasley has said a word about it. This morning an owl came for Harry. I tried to take the message for him, but the bird kept pecking my hand until it was bleeding. It wasn't an owl that I recognized. It's probably waiting for Harry up in the owl tower.

"The Ministry has cut back to two aurors to protect us, but there hasn't been a hint of trouble. I've spent all my time brewing potions with Professor Sprout. We're on our own, because Professor Slughorn left right after you did. And here's something that will really interest all of you. George has a meeting in two days at the Montaigne Castle to negotiate the rental of his new shop in Hogsmeade. It will be the first chance for any of us to meet the old guy and get a look inside his castle."

"I promise to do an adequate amount of snooping," George said solemnly, hand across his heart. "In fact, I have a couple gimcracks that I just might leave behind, if the right opportunity presents itself. I've got another little beauty that can cause quite a distraction, if needed. I figure it's only fair to give the man a sampling of what I'm going to be selling on his premises."

"I wonder if you could describe me as a potential investor, so that I could come along for the visit," Harry asked. "Of course it would limit the deployment of your gimcracks - I don't want to be associated with anything that Montaigne might view as offensive. I just want to get a sense of the man."

"No problem, Harry. You already are an investor. If you're willing to invest some more, I'll happily accept your money."

I touched Harry's thigh {[reluctance] that's what I did with the Triwizard Tournament prize. The twins were already determined to leave school, the money just reminded me of Diggory, so I bankrolled their first shop}.

"Don't ever tell Mom how much you like ligonberry jam," I announced, seemingly out of the blue. I drew a look from Ron and Hermione, but Mom looked startled and replied "I don't know why you think I would object to Harry having a taste for ligonberry jam."

"I just thought you always considered it to be an inferior berry, consumed only by the lower class," I joked. After determining that Dad had not, in fact, given me too much sherry at the Ministry, Mom declared a desire to go work on lesson plans, and left us to ourselves.

Harry assured them that the past two days had been more eventful for us. He looked around for someone to tell the tale, but Hermione sat farther back in her chair, so I filled the breach. Our chums were all very sympathetic of the travails that had beset Hermione's mother, and all the camaraderie pouring out toward the Grangers dispelled Hermione's embarrassment and reintegrated her into our good graces.

Harry asked, "Did any of you get a chance to peruse the list of Godric's Hollow Wizarding families to see if there was anyone of interest? Have we heard anything further from Margaret? Now that we know we can trust her again, she can be a real asset."

"Bron Turner, the auror, lives in Godric's Hollow with a wife, Amalie, whom he met while working in France, and an infant son," Neville replied. "His family has lived in or near Godric's Hollow for generations. His father is a tailor, who also farms a small garden with his wife. He has an older brother, Cedric, who did some farming and tailoring, but has worked at the Ministry for about a year in the Office of Magical Standards, as some kind of clerk. None of the other names seemed significant to me, but I'll show the list to you when we get back to the dorm."

"It's significant that his family is from Godric's Hollow, yet he didn't get a recommendation from Dumbledore. I'd like to drop in on Godric's Hollow tomorrow," Harry mused, "always assuming we can fit a visit in. LeDoux claimed that the wand I hid there was stolen, but the Ministry aurors say nobody approached the graves. I want to see if the wand is still there and, if it's not, find out which aurors took part in the watch. Bron Turner seems more and more suspicious. I think a message to Mr. Weasley is in order."

Harry whipped out the cell phone, but Hermione had to operate it for him. Harry relayed the information about Bron's brother working in the suspect Ministry office, said Bron bore careful watching, and asked for the list of aurors who had watched over the buried wand. He seemed very pleased with Dad's response.

"The Minister says he already shipped Bron off to France on 'a special, delicate assignment', telling him he needed to have him check out every contact that Tom Stowe had made during his visits to the Continent. He alerted Monsieur Delacour to keep a tight watch over Bron. That makes me feel better about your Dad's safety."

We headed up to the owl tower before returning to the common room, so that Harry could retrieve his message. The owl was still in place, with the message still strapped to its leg. Somehow, it knew to hop right over to Harry and didn't peck him once as he removed the message. Harry didn't even have a chance to reward the bird with an owl treat. As soon as the message was removed, it squirmed out of his grasp and flew away. Harry unrolled the message, but indicated that he didn't want to discuss it until we were back in our common room.

"It's from Bill the auror, and it reads 'I don't know if I can trust you, but I remember that you helped Sirius Black, when the whole Ministry was against him. You sensed his innocence and I'm gambling that you sense mine, as well. I did not attack the Minister. I protected him with a 'protego' charm and threw myself in front of him. Bron Turner killed Tom, when we could have taken him alive. As the other aurors were coming in from the lawn, Bron said I was helping Tom and had fired a curse at the Minister. He was going to strike me down, so I dove out the patio door and apparated to safety. I know who Bron is working with. Meet me tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 P.M. inside what's left of Bathilde Bagshot's house in Godric's Hollow. You can bring your friends, but please don't bring any aurors'. It's signed 'your instructor, Bill the auror'. What do you make of that?"

"I know that the politically responsible thing is to contact Dad and have a dozen aurors descend upon Godric's Hollow, but I think we should go and hear what he has to say," Ron said. "I don't trust Bron at all and Bill is looking a bit better. I think we had better go in force, though."

"Definitely in force," Harry replied. "This is exactly the sort of trap that Professor McGonagall warned me that Thicknesse was likely to set for me. He knows this sort of offer has appealed to me in the past. I don't know Bill's owl, or his handwriting, or even if he is on our side, although I lean towards trusting him, assuming this note is actually from Bill.

"The note says he is expecting me to bring a lot of friends with wands, so he isn't trying to ambush me alone. This would be a good tactical opportunity for the Death Eaters to use one of their Muggle bombs, if this note is a trap set by Thicknesse. It invites all of us to be in a known spot at a known time. Likely he expects us to arrive a little early."

We all agreed that Harry should meet Bill. Hermione planned a few surprises, in case Bill was bad.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Eight – Godric's Hollow**

The next day Hermione and I practiced spells with Mrs. Granger and Harry in the Room of Requirement. The surprise of the morning was that Filch had heard that we were instructing Mrs. Granger and asked if he could participate in the lessons. It was surprising that he had the confidence and trust to approach us, insisting that we tell nobody, but even more surprising that he showed a tiny amount of magical talent. Mrs. Granger easily outstripped Filch, but Filch was able to do minor things such as levitating a feather and a small piece of paper and even producing a noticeable faint glow at the end of a wand with a 'lumos' spell. All in all, he didn't do much worse than the average First Year during the first week of class. Mrs. Granger was an above average First Year. Filch said he had been practicing on his own. Harry suggested that if he continued to show improvement, he might want to see Seamus about getting a wand that was better suited to his person. He was all smiles as he departed and a stranger could have been forgiven for mistaking Filch and Harry as great old friends.

After Filch and Mrs. Granger departed, we spent an hour testing Harry on 'expelliarmus', the bat-bogie hex, and 'petrificus totalis'. I was concerned that Hermione was being a little pedantic and that Harry might think she was talking down to him. She kept saying perfectly correct things, such as "remember, Harry, Bill taught us to plan out our responses to an attack in our heads. That's not just apparating to a safe spot from which to fight back, it's also rehearsing the spells that you will use. He told us to practice until the responses were automatic. I think you should start with one plan and then build up. I have three responses memorized. If you memorized and practiced a response like 'petrificus totalis', then you wouldn't automatically go to 'protego' when we're attacked. I understand why 'expelliarmus' is still a problem for you. Don't let McGonagall force you to dwell upon that one spell. It isn't even all that useful. Your opponent can dive and recover his wand or have a spare wand in his boot. 'Petrificus' gets the job done a lot better and you don't have bad associations with that spell. You just need to practice that response until it becomes automatic. There is no danger. Even if you accidentally used it on a friend, there would be no harm done."

Harry frowned at the last and Hermione responded with "this REALLY is important Harry." I thought Hermione was spot on in telling Harry that he should just forget about 'expelliarmus'. I reinforced what Hermione told Harry, even though it risked him linking me to her fairly strong criticism. "It really isn't needed. 'Petrificus Totalis works better and it's a perfectly safe curse, which your mind has never associated with causing harm."

I thought Harry showed improvement, although Hermione was certainly correct in observing that he still had a way to go. Hermione ended the session by attacking me, so Harry could practice the 'protego' charm. I was not surprised to hear Hermione say it was the most effective 'protego' she had ever seen. As an afterthought, she asked him to produce his Patronus. Again, she said it was the strongest Patronus she had ever seen him produce, and she was with him when he drove off a whole swarm of Dementors.

After Hermione departed, Harry lapsed into a visibly down mood. "I can sense that Hermione has added concerns about me, since my failure during the fighting at Beauxbatons. I think you do to. Heck, I doubt myself. I don't know why I just automatically use 'protego' instead of something stronger. I keep promising myself that the next time will be different. After we stopped that first Giant, I was feeling really confident, then at the first test, all I can say is 'protego'."

"Beauxbatons ended well. We killed two Giants and helped protect the students. You have nothing to feel ashamed about. Madame Maxime sees you as her hero. I know that she annoyed you, but Hermione is correct that you must forget 'expelliarmus'. That was your go to response. Now your mind rejects it. That is really the only spell that you can't do well. You should practice a new go to spell until you stop trying to 'expelliarmus' by instinct. Hermione still trusts you in a fight. That was clear at Beauxbatons."

"She doesn't know exactly what happened under the landing. We know. I could have killed our attacker, before he had a chance to fire a curse. Because I was squeamish, you could have been killed. It's not safe for you to be with me."

"I keep telling you, I can protect myself. I did for half a year under the Carrows, without any help from you. I can protect you too, if you'll let me. You don't have to kill people. Dumbledore never did. You didn't need to kill the guy under the balcony. It was better to petrificus him, so we had somebody to question. That might have saved Mom and Neville from being kidnapped. I know I used some 'Avada Kedavras', but I am not proud of it. I was pulled that way by Ron. We are both still way too angry, because of Fred. There are times when I really want to kill our opponents. There are lots of times when Ron does. That is not a good thing. I'm trying to change. The aurors try really hard not to kill. For now, let me protect you. When 'petrificus' comes more naturally to you, you'll be fine."

"That's not your job! Ron is able to protect Hermione. I can't protect you."

"If we are to be partners, then it is as much my job to protect you and our friends as it is your job to protect me and our friends. We're a team. You should learn to accept my help. You are in a better place than Ron is right now. You are also naturally a gentler person."

"I don't want to be a gentle person!"

I won't say Harry huffed off, but he did leave me alone in the Room of Requirement. I didn't see him again, until it was time to depart for Godric's Hollow. I have no idea where he went, or what he did, but he had nearly two hours to do it. When he returned, he was holding a wrapped parcel, about the size of one of the old paintings of the Hogwarts stables. I was pleased to see that he was smiling.

"Same plan as before, but at my parents' house," Harry told the group, just as our first wave was about to apparate. Just a little added protection, in case Bill tries to use a Muggle bomb. I've arranged for Bathilde's house to be watched by Kreacher and a pair of Hogwarts kitchen elves. The kitchen elves will undoubtedly tell Professor McGonagall about this little adventure, but that will be after the fact. The elves left with Kreacher, without any time to find the headmaster."

At 2:00 P.M. four Harry Potters and a Ginny apparated into the church graveyard in Godric's Hollow, concealed beneath the Peverell invisibility cloak and another far less valuable knockoff purveyed by my brother as the top end of his new line. They all had pockets stuffed with 'Whacky Weasley Wonders', just in case they were needed.

One cloaked trio ambled over to see if the wand hidden by 'real Harry' was still hidden beside the grave. It wasn't. They then began a careful amble over to the Potter homestead memorial. Precisely at 2:45, another Harry and a Ginny apparated at the front gate of the Potter home. I know, because I was under the Peverell cloak with 'real Harry' and Neville, standing watch. I watched Harry and Ginny open the gate, holding it so the rest of us could enter and then do the same with the front door of the house. They sat on the divan and waited. We leaned against the far wall, facing the door and window. It was nice to see that someone in the village maintained the shrine. I'd have to ask Margaret who the responsible party was. It was certain to be meaningful to Harry, but of more immediate importance, a layer of dust on the floor would have given us away. We waited and at 3:10, Bill apparated just inside the doorway.

"I'm glad you came. I accept your diverting me from the location I proposed to this house as more a reasonable precaution than a sign of distrust. I'd do the same in your place. As your tutor, let me say that if you were worried about a Muggle bomb, that your parents' house was an obvious spot to divert me to, but it is certainly safer than coming to the Bagshot wreckage.

"I'll keep my wand inside my robes, so you'll feel safer. It's nice that you're not pointing your wands at me, but I'm quite sure there are wands directed at me from under an invisibility cloak. I'll be quick, because this is risky. You put me at a slightly greater risk by changing the meeting location at the last minute. That's why I'm late. I don't blame you. I'm glad that you're learning to be more careful. I would have set the meeting for here, but I was afraid that you had really bad memories of this place."

"Not nearly as bad as my memories of the Bagshot house." Bill looked toward the corner, in which we still stood under the cloak.

"Anyhow, this is what I discovered - Bron is in league with the Grindelwald groupies in France. I saw Meier Hyack meet him here, in the church graveyard, five days ago. I was suspicious when Bron assigned himself such a menial and unpleasant duty as the night shift in the graveyard, so I followed him. Hyack took the Elder Wand. I'm sorry, but I wasn't in a position to stop or apprehend him. The point is, he came to Britain and he knows Bron. I don't know where either of them is now. I overheard Hyack telling Bron that the Grindelwalds are going to have an opposing candidate in our election for Minister of Magic. Since the deadline to declare candidacy is in two days, you'll soon know who that person is. They plan to use the Elder Wand to assassinate Monsieur Delacour. You must warn him. I'd be arrested or killed if I tried to approach him. I know you've doubted me in the past, Harry, and I'm very glad you've changed your mind. I could use a little help. Life on the run is difficult. A little money would help… and some Polyjuice."

Harry stepped out from under our cloak. "I won't give you Polyjuice. If you're bad, you could cause too much trouble with that. I can give you a little Muggle money and I have a place where I can stash you for at least a few days. I'm going to have to tell Arthur that I've seen you, but I promise I'll alert you before telling Arthur where I've stashed you. You won't be alone in the hideout. Is that okay."

"I can't be choosy. You trusted me and I'll have to trust you and your friends."

"I have a question for you," Harry addressed Bill. "A few days ago, you went on an inspection tour of Azkaban and reported that you personally observed all of the prisoners to still be in place, is that correct?"

"Yes. Bron Turner asked Tom Stowe and me to conduct the inspection. All the prisoners were in their cells and Azkaban was in as good physical shape as could be expected, given the damages during the Death Eater break out a year ago. We interviewed each of the prisoners to determine whether their stay at Azkaban had loosened their tongues, but none was willing to provide helpful intelligence in return for a transfer back to the Ministry basement. I was surprised.

"I thought Cyril Thompson would definitely tell me whatever he knew. He was basically just a thug who hired out to the Death Eaters for money and a Ministry position. I don't think he cared about their politics, although, as a poor pureblood Wizard from a less than Great family, he was bitter about the success achieved by the Muggle-born Hogwarts graduates that he went to school with. He felt his ancestry made him superior and entitled to a better life than the ones that the Muggle-born were living. Why do you ask?"

"Because, two days after you performed that inspection, we saw the dead body of one of those prisoners. That was in France".

"I can't explain that, unless he escaped the day after our visit. We saw all four prisoners. Which prisoner did you see?"

"Yaxley."

"Tom talked to Yaxley, I talked to Thompson and Morgan. That's Marshall Morgan – I thought that I might have a chance with him as well. He's the only known Muggle-born among the Death Eaters. I had to expect that he might have mixed loyalties, possibly even have been Imperiused into helping the Death Eaters. His mind was off: he couldn't admit that Voldemort was dead. Kept saying 'the Dark Lord returned before, he'll return again to punish those who abandoned his cause. I'll be inner circle now, won't I'? It was pathetic. I thought he belonged in St. Mungo's, rather than Azkaban, but that's not my decision. I checked and he did have the Dark Mark. Thompson didn't."

"So you didn't both actually observe all of the prisoners?"

"No, we planned fairly intense interviews, so we split the work. Even if you know that you're just visiting, believe me, you don't want to spend any more time in Azkaban than is absolutely necessary. We needed Patronuses to keep the Dementors from bothering us. We were there two hours and left so drained, that we could barely apparate back to the Ministry. I'm not sure that I could have lasted three hours. It's for good reason that the Ministry doesn't monitor Azkaban more closely. Tom talked to Yaxley and J. D. Caulfield. J.D's just another Death Eater hanger-on thug, of little danger."

Harry summoned Kreacher, explaining the modified living arrangements to both Kreacher and Bill. Kreacher was hesitant, but Harry gave him permission to attack Bill if he strayed from the deal. I was surprised when Kreacher said to Harry "house still there." Harry seemed to understand, however. He thanked Kreacher and gave a little wave of goodbye and then Kreacher and Bill were gone. Ten seconds later, so were we.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight – This House Is Getting Crowded**

"Who is this man, Kreacher? He looks like a fighter. I don't feel safe."

"Trust Master Harry, Mistress. He give Kreacher permission to kill man, if he threaten Mistress. He is auror hunted by other aurors. They think he is one who attack Minister Shacklebolt."

"Ah, I see. Another of Potter's fugitives. I'm in no position to argue, but this is very inconvenient. What if I have to leave this house to protect Draco?"

"Master Harry say it not safe for Mistress to leave this house."

"I know that, but I must put Draco's safety above my own. Lucius is in jail now, but believe me, he will talk or buy his way out. Then he'll come after Draco again. He doesn't trust McGonagall and he doesn't realize how much danger he brings with him. I don't trust him to keep Draco safe. He didn't keep Draco safe from Voldemort. He doesn't think Draco is tough enough."

"Kreacher can leave to protect Draco, Mistress cannot. Master Harry say this house is watched. He say Mistress make mistake inviting girls who can't apparate."

"Yes, it was a mistake to invite Margaret. She's too close to Potter and she walked here from the train station. I'm amazed she found this place. Potter is slipping. Millicent can apparate, she just doesn't let on that she can. She apparated here."

"Bring this man to me. I must study him for myself. Is he really a fugitive, or is this a trick."

"Kreacher fetch Mr. Bill."

Kreacher brought Bill down from the third floor. He stayed close to protect both of his guests. It was best to keep them on different floors.

"It's time we talked," Bill informed Narcissa. "This isn't such a big house that we can avoid each other forever. Harry said that we must just get along as best we can. I'm no threat to you. I can't leave this house. Every auror in Britain is hunting for me and I'd be killed on sight."

"I'm also a fugitive, although I doubt the aurors would kill me. I'm in more danger from my husband and his former friends. I'm in most danger from this new force, which I don't yet understand. I can't understand it locked up here and if I can't understand it, then I fear it is a threat to my son. Delores Umbridge tried to murder him. Someone obviously paid her to do it. My foolish husband thought he could control her and actually sent her to Hogwarts with a message for our son. What do you know of this?"

"I know that Delores Umbridge came to Hogwarts and died there. She carried poison. When I fled, I know that the aurors didn't know whom she meant to kill. So, as you see, Umbridge is no longer a threat to anyone. I don't know who hired her or how dangerous that person is to you or your son. If I had a wand, I'd protect you here, but obviously I don't. We just have to trust each other and get along as best we can."

"If a wand would be a great help, I could get one for us easily enough. I'd have to trust you first - a lot more than I trust most people. Really, I trust nobody but myself, Kreacher, and Draco. I almost trust McGonagall and Harry Potter. I've been betrayed a lot in my lifetime. It is best not to be too trusting. I'd trust Potter more if he wasn't taking such a stupid risk keeping both of us here and if he didn't know that I have already betrayed him."

"I warn you: I am a friend of Potter. I owe him a lot. There is no way you could convince me to betray him."

" I also owe him a lot, but he owes me his life. That is a very strong bond between us, whether he fully recognizes its existence, or not. Don't worry, I'm not a threat to Harry, at least not to his life. I guess I am a potential source of profound embarrassment. I expect he'll recover from that. For now, its just important that he keeps Draco safe. In that regard, I trust him more than I trust MacGonagall."


	9. Chapter 9

f

**Chapter Nine – Castle Montaigne**

The next morning our spirits were lifted by an owl from Lee, indicating that the damage to the shop wasn't as severe as the papers suggested. Cho had helped him get the inside of the shop back in order and a Wizard tradesman was helping a Goblin to repair the building. Lee felt they would be back in business within two weeks.

"That's great news," Harry congratulated George. "You know, we really ought to get a cell phone to Lee, so that we can get our reports from Diagon Alley faster and George and Cho can't be observed launching and receiving owls. Diagon Alley doesn't seem quite as safe as it did when we established our communication scheme."

As Harry spoke the words 'Diagon Alley', my elation turned to a sense of shame. Harry and I had walked right past George's shop yesterday and not even bothered to stop and check on the shop or on Lee's condition. I shouldn't say 'hadn't bothered'. It's not that we decided not to take the time. Worse, much worse, we hadn't thought of the shop at all. We had a way of getting too wrapped up in our mysteries, to the exclusion of everything else. The thought of the rowan wand had driven me into some kind of frenzy.

For the rest of the morning, we plotted the strategy for Harry and George's visit to Montaigne Castle, quickly dismissing the thought of me accompanying them under the invisibility cloak. Harry deemed it far too provocative, if I were caught. Harry had a mental image of a Scottish Lord who was always surrounded by retriever dogs, who would surely sniff me out in an instant. I reconciled myself to a day in the library further researching our 'special talent' while Hermione, with her mother's help, did research for Hermione's upcoming lecture. Hermione had awakened in a panic over the approaching deadline, imagining herself standing in front of all of us, her too-short lecture at an end, and being asked a perfectly reasonable question for which she had no answer. She was determined to spend every possible minute in the library, examining every possible source.

Harry touched my thigh under the table as we were finishing lunch. This was very un-Harry behavior, although it quickly became clear that he just wanted to message me.

{[excited, but not about my thigh] I feel bad that I didn't travel straight from Godric's Hollow to the Ministry to tell your Dad about Bill. I'd go myself, but I think it's really important that I meet Lord Montaigne. Could you apparate to the Ministry, apologize to your father, and tell him that I apologize for meeting with Bill secretly, but that I think he is to be trusted. I leave it to your judgment whether to mention Grimmauld Place, although I'm leaning against it. Sorry to put this on you. I know it won't be a pleasant meeting [worry]}

I patted Harry's hand, in a way that I thought meant agreement and nodded yes. Harry smiled back at me and returned to his conversation with George.

Immediately after lunch, George and Harry set off on their adventure. They had decided to travel by broom. I was very relieved that George was not making the trip alone. I reassured myself that this couldn't be a trap to catch Harry Potter, since Lord Montaigne wasn't expecting Harry Potter.

"Harry wants me to see Dad. He feels guilty about Bill," I told Hermione, as I headed to the front entrance instead of the library.

"Shall I come for moral support. Your father is likely to yell less, if I'm there with you. I'm still the shell-shocked daughter, who almost destroyed her own mother's mind."

I felt a sense of great relief as I half dragged Hermione out the door with me. I was not looking forward to this meeting and a little angry at Harry for going off to play, while I was left to explain his following a hunch to break the law.

Dad was busy and surprised to see us, but one look at my face and we had his full attention.

"Harry and George are visiting Lord Montaigne at his castle," I told Dad. "George wants to lease a shop in Hogsmeade and Harry wants to size up the Lord. Harry, actually all of us for most of the adventure, did something yesterday, which you should know about. Harry thought you should know right away. A bird wouldn't be secure. So that's why we're here."

"Now I'm worried. This sounds like it's going to be bad. Tell me the worst first to get it out of the way, then you and Hermione can tell me the whole story. You're shaking. Please sit down, before you collapse."

We sat. I did feel scared. Why me?

"Bill the auror is hiding out with Narcissa and Kreacher at Grimmauld Place. Kreacher is making sure they don't kill each other." I got it all out in one breath. Dad looked shocked.

"That is serious. I think you told me just soon enough for your actions to not be highly illegal. I should send my aurors to Grimmauld Place and haul them both off to jail, but I'm guessing that you don't want me to do that. Take a few deep breaths and relax, while Hermione tells me the tale from its beginning."

It felt better to let Hermione do the telling. She took the bold approach, casting our actions as the logical path to get to the bottom of the mystery of who tried to murder Minister Shacklebolt. She tried to logically prove that Bill must have been the one to save Shacklebolt with his 'protego' and that Bron must be the villain. Dad wasn't convinced.

"You have a plausible theory, but we all heard Madam Bones report that her investigators couldn't say for certain that Bron hadn't been the one to use the 'protego'. It is interesting that the Voldemort wand is gone – even more interesting that it's a booby-trapped fake. It would have been nice if someone had told me that at the time. Unfortunately, the biggest thing in Bills favor for not stealing the wand is that he hasn't been at the grave yard since the wand was hidden. Now he tells you that he was there, but it was Bron who is the thief. That is interesting information on Meier Hyack.

"I'll keep this matter among ourselves for now, but I'm not happy. You took a very big risk in meeting Bill. You were right to expect a bomb and it's clear that Bill anticipated your safeguard. The problem with your group is that you think you are so much more clever than everybody else, but everybody else is counter-scheming and they're as good at it as you are. That wasn't much of a plan to trick an experienced auror. Bill taught you to apparate and taught you advanced fighting skills. Wasn't that at least a clue that he might actually know more than you do?

"And, Ginevra – your mother told me all about your trip to the Continent. She sent Bill home because you didn't trust him. At that time, he was your tutor and a respected member of the Minister's personal guard. Now, the only thing that has changed is that he is a fugitive, wanted for possibly trying to murder Minister Shacklebolt. All he has to do is mention 'Sirius Black' and ask Harry for help, for all of you to jump into full rebellion mode 'the Ministry is persecuting a poor innocent!". Do you you really think your father is a persecutor of innocents?

"Well, at least I know where to find Bill, if I want him. I actually agree with you that it's best not to catch him just yet. I have a feeling he'd be murdered in my jail. Okay, thanks for finally bringing me up to speed, but I would appreciate being warned of your adventures, before the fact. I have a lot of work to do. Please tell your boyfriend that next time he should be brave enough to tell me the bad news himself. I know he feels guilty. You might remind him that this means he realizes that he should have contacted me as soon as he heard from Bill. I am not Fudge or Scrimgouer. Harry endorsed me for election. You all did. I expect better."

"Sorry, Dad. I guess old habits die hard. We'll talk to Harry about this."

"Good."

Dad picked up a pile of papers. We were dismissed. Dad usually could be relied upon to have a hug for his daughter, but not today.

There wasn't much for Hermione and me to say to each other. She commented as we left Dad's office "Whew! That was rough, probably even worse for you. We were clearly wrong. You've got another tough conversation with Harry. I'll join you for that, if you want."

"I definitely want."

By unspoken agreement, we parked this problem off to the side and headed to the library. Worrying about it now would just ruin the rest of our day.

While Hermione searched for more on the early history of Hogwarts, I hunted for any trace of papers that Flamel might have sent to Dumbledore. I spent four hours performing a fairly detailed search of every part of the library, including the reserved section, but found nothing. Was it possible that they were with Dumbledore's stored memories in the magical cabinet, which Professor McGonagall said she was unable to open? Had they already been grabbed by the Carrows? Since Snape had been headmaster, perhaps he had safely secreted them somewhere. I must remember to ask Professor McGonagall about searching the offices and residences of Snape and the Carrows. I remembered the recent visit to Snape's office, with Harry and Professor McGonagall. There certainly had been a lot of papers, books, and things just everywhere inside there. It had not looked as if anybody had been through its contents, since Snape's death. I really had to urge Harry to make an attempt to unlock Dumbledore's cabinet. I wanted more clues! My thoughts were interrupted by a shrill shriek.

Hermione was squealing excitedly with her mother, as if she had found a motherlode of information. I left my largely completed task and joined them. "This manuscript mentions the closing of the Gryffindor House dorm above the stables. It's from 1699, and discusses the students having been moved in with the Peverells and Ravenclaws the winter before, because heating was a problem. There had been a fire in the stables caused by an ember from the students' fireplace in one of the dorm rooms and the school felt it too unsafe to continue using the fireplaces, which gave poor heat in the draughty stable rooms. It says 'the Goblins having previously insisted on closing the tunnel from the boiler chamber to the stables, the headmaster took the decision to abandon the dorms'. Do you understand what this means? The Muggles were many years from having invented boilers. Wizard/Goblin technology was far ahead of what you would think of as western technology. I saw the water heater in the sub-basement of the castle. It was very advanced and run by Goblins. I had no idea a system had been in place since at least 1690."

"What I take from that manuscript," I replied, "is that there is an old underground tunnel from under the castle to the old stables. I wonder if we could find that, or if it is even one of the failed passages that George knows about. We're actually friendly enough with Filch these days to ask about it."

Harry and George hadn't returned before it was our last chance to go down to dinner, so we ate without them. I was becoming nervous and Mom looked a little worried, also. I didn't like the idea of Harry flying at night. The thought of how LeDoux had come to power crept into my brain, no matter how hard I tried to bar it. Worry put a crimp in the dinner conversation, although I did manage to wheedle permission from Professor McGonagall to check for the Flamel manuscripts among Professor Snape's possessions.

"I just haven't been able to bear to go through them yet. I'd be grateful if you and your friends took on the task of sorting through them. Too many guilty memories," was her response. We all got up right after dessert, hoping we would return to the common room to find Harry and George waiting for us. It really was getting late to be flying. The sun had set and even twilight was ending. They weren't there.

I was a combination of frightened and worried, along with an underlying tone of anger, both because I had been sent off to meet with Dad, but also because it had been irresponsible for Harry and George to be gone so long. I forced myself not to mention the Dad meeting with Mom. I wanted to discuss with Harry, before I talked to Mom.

It was completely dark when Harry and George returned to the common room, but they seemed well and in good spirits. Harry's spirits were dampened by his almost immediate realization that I was angry with him and that Hermione was taking my side.

"What's wrong? What did I do?" Harry asked with puppy charm.

"You left me to explain your bad behavior to my Dad, while you went off adventuring, then you and George stayed away so long, and flew at night, and left us all to sit here worrying about you, and now it's all 'great adventure!' smiles from you and George."

"It was a very rough meeting with the Minister," Hermione emphasized for Harry.

Mom was paying way too much attention to this discussion, as was Neville. Hermione seemed not to notice, as she told Harry "You decided to take responsibility for harboring a fugitive, one who you didn't trust at all when we went to Durmstrang. We all supported the decision, but it was your proposal and you didn't even ask what the rest of us thought before you sent him to Grimauld Place. It was your responsibility to explain to the Minister, not Ginny's. She had to disappoint both the Minister whom we support and her father."

"I know. I'm really sorry. I would have done it myself, but I just… I really wanted to meet Lord Montaigne. I do think that was very important, but I put an unfair burden on Ginny to do something that it looks like I was too frightened to do myself. I'm glad that you went with Ginny. I should have at least proposed that, myself. I know that I really messed up."

"What fugitive?" Mom shouted at Hermione.

"It's Bill, the auror," Harry told Mom. "He said he is innocent and asked for our help. I'm letting him stay at Grimmauld Place. I'm sorry that I didn't talk to Minister Weasley in person. It seemed a good idea to meet Lord Montaigne, when I had the chance. I'll talk to the Minister tomorrow. I'll make it very clear that this was my idea, not Ginny's. I certainly didn't mean to get Ginny into trouble with her Dad. I guess I just wasn't thinking."

There was silence. Then I finally said "okay".

Mom didn't look happy and there was more silence. She finally asked "what is Arthur going to do?"

"He's going to keep this secret, for now," I told Mom. "He agrees that Bill might be innocent, but thinks we broke the law and took a big risk in meeting Bill in Godric's Corner."

"Your father is right. You did break the law and you took a huge risk. Tell me exactly what happened."

We were forced to retell the whole awful story, both the secret trip to Godric's Corner and the meeting with Dad, in painful detail. Mom was not at all pleased, but promised that she would speak to Dad. "I don't think we want to mention any of this to Headmaster McGonagall," was her conclusion.

All of this had totally dampened the enthusiasm with which George and Harry had entered the common room. George gamely tried to change the subject to something more pleasant.

"I got a reasonable rent and the old man asked us to stay for dinner," George summarized. "We got some good detective work in, too. Lord Montaigne is about McGonagall's age and very much the British Lord. He was surrounded by hunting dogs, wore tweeds, had his house staffed with Muggle servants, and I think had a Wizard servant who he made behave like a Muggle. He even has electricity, telephone, television, computers, lots of aerials and satellite dishes, four blue Land Rovers in the drive, and partial central heating. If I didn't know his background, I'd take him for a rich, old, fuddy-duddy Muggle.

"Now, here's the interesting thing: his son Bruce, who is about 40, is off doing the Malfoy financial thing in Paris and Brussels, but he's coming back to Britain tomorrow to announce his candidacy for Minister of Magic. His candidate for Deputy Minister is going to be Dr. Sprout, although Lord Montaigne says he really thinks Bruce can handle the whole job himself, unlike that lightweight Shacklebolt. He even started to make a crack about 'how much help can Arthur Weasley give anyway?' until he realized whose son he was speaking to, and offered excuses, 'heat and excitement of the political moment, you know. Only natural I should believe Bruce would do the better job'."

"The castle is now roomy and quite comfortable on the inside," Harry observed, "but the original exterior was definitely built to be a fighting castle. It looks a lot like Durmstrang, but with the moat filled in and a more modern addition built on the back. He didn't remove any walls in making the addition, however: it's accessed by a very narrow door in a very thick stone wall, and sealed by a very solid steel door. He said he added the addition himself, or at least ordered it, about twenty years ago. As George indicated, he's equipped to do a lot of high tech communicating and to do so from a very defensible structure. He didn't show us what was below the first floor, but there was a very sturdy-looking locked steel door over what must have been the access stairs. We didn't get to see the upper stories, either.

"Montaigne was friendly enough and seemed as interested in getting a feel for us as we were interested in figuring him out. He thought it really odd that we had flown out there on our brooms. I'm just glad we didn't carry them up to the castle. I think one of the reasons he chatted so long after dinner is that he wanted to make sure the Muggle servants left before we did. I was worried at first that he wanted to get us alone and do away with us or slip some Veritaserum into our sherry, but I think he was just afraid we'd be observed on our brooms. I'm sorry that we didn't get to meet Bruce. I find it most interesting that the opposition ticket has the head doctor for the squib project and the son of one of the two patricians who run the program and its foundation. We may have been hasty in classifying Dr. Sprout as a good guy."

"So Dad has competition in the election," I began, "which likely makes Bruce the Grindelwald candidate."

"There could be other candidates," Hermione corrected me. "There's still the Fudge rumor."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten – Political Game On**

At breakfast, McGonagall stopped by our table and quickly commented, "I trust my elves were not in any danger, Mr. Potter. Did you imagine that they would fail to report to me? They didn't know the purpose of their vigil, but if I had to guess, you are playing another foolish game involving a wanted Wizard. You had best speak to Mr. Weasley posthaste."

"Ginny talked to him yesterday, I'll visit him today," Harry promised her.

McGonagall fixed Harry with a disapproving look, but quickly turned and walked away.

Fortunately, Harry had told us all about his change to Hermione's detailed plans for meeting Bill. Hermione had been a little annoyed, largely because Harry's plan for dealing with potential bombs was safer than her idea of a quick search of Bathilda's abode for shiny objects. Ron gaped, "how could she possibly know about Bill."

"Perhaps just a lucky guess, based upon past practices," Hermione responded.

I heard a fluttering noise and jerked my head to see an owl gliding down from the top of the center window to land on our table. Hermione and I, seeing the owl in flight, then the top of it as it landed, shrieked as one "Slughorn!"

Our first clue was that this owl had arrived fifteen minutes before the mail owls normally appeared, but this owl also was truly unique. Slughorn had colored a standard snowy owl, to achieve a high degree of camouflage. From the bottom, the owl's stomach and wings were blue, with patches of the original white showing through. From the top, it was green, mottled with brown. It presented a leg to Harry, revealing a tightly coiled note. Harry took the note and as he was unrolling it, the bird helped itself to some bacon and was gone.

Harry read, "I said you'd hear from me. Don't be upset. I'm on your side - just planning a little mischief at someone else's expense. You'll read all about me and that someone over your breakfast. What a lark for a bored old Wizard."

The coy note piqued our interest so much that we alternated taking bites of breakfast with scanning the sky for the mail owls. When the owls finally arrived, we learned that there was indeed another slate of candidates. A banner headline across the front page read:

**WIZARD ARISTOCRAT BRUCE MONTAIGNE TO SEEK POST OF MINISTER **

**DISTINGUISHED HEAD OF ST. MUNGO'S FOR DEPUTY MINISTER**

The article gave more biographical detail than Harry had garnered from Lord Montaigne. Bruce was 37 years of age and had spent the last fifteen years on the Continent earning money among Muggle financiers, much of which he plowed back into good works within the Wizarding community, both in Britain and France. He always spent his holidays hunting with his father on the family estate. He planned to retire to that estate, but did not want to crowd his father, leaving him to run the estate as he saw best, while Bruce earned his own way. He was described as a good student, having earned two OWLS and a NEWT at Hogwarts, but obviously being able to teach his professors a thing or two about Muggle Studies. He felt it was his duty to step forward for this election, because, as he said in a so much nicer way, Dad was over his head and Shacklebolt was still lost within his head. He stated that "while we certainly all owe a great debt to the war heroes like Ministers Shacklebolt and Weasley, and the very young Harry Potter and his friends, I believe most Wizards will agree that governing requires more than heroism. Dr. Sprout and I offer wisdom, experience, and the ability to interact on a par with the leaders of Wizard society. I also note that the current administration was unable to prevent the Minister's personal guard from trying to assassinate him. The bomb attack in Diagon Alley shows this administration is unable to keep peace and protect Wizards and their businesses."

That article did not improve on page two. The surprise of the day came in the smaller headline atop page three:

**Professor Horace Slughorn Enters Race for Minister; Chooses Holyhead Harpy for Deputy**

This quite brief article said the Professor intended to draw upon his lifetime of experience and web of contacts to lead, inspire, and reunite the Wizarding world. He felt strongly that the "unfortunate troubles which we have all so recently come through have cast the Hogwarts House of Slytherin and its graduates and students in an undeservedly bad light." He deplored the suggestion of the Shacklebolt/Weasley team that any particular shaping up of Slytherin was required or that a non-Slytherin Head of House was warranted, even as a temporary measure. "There are hundred and hundreds of good Slytherin graduates in our community. I don't think the actions of a few dozen or even a couple hundred Slytherins who joined with the Death Eaters should be allowed to outweigh that."

"When told by this reporter that one of his opponents, Bruce Montaigne, was a fellow Slytherin, Professor Slughorn replied, 'Yes, Bruce is a Slytherin, and one of my favorite students. He still sends me pistachios every year. I remember him as a fine lad, but does he really still count as a British Wizard? I think of him as more French."

There were also quotes from Gwenog Jones, who declared that her "experience playing Quidditch and captaining the Holyhead Harpies will allow me to provide the toughness and coordination needed to move the Wizarding community forward. War heroes are all well and good, but it takes less courage and toughness to be part of a group dueling with wands than it does to be on your own, 1000 feet off the ground, with just a broom between yourself and a very hard landing or a bludger coming at your head at over 100 mph. I face that several days a week. I'd like to see Arthur Weasley or even Kingsley Shacklebolt give that a try. Although, admittedly, neither of them is as soft as Bruce Montaigne. What's with his hiding out in France while the battle is raging here, and then trotting back when things are peaceful and thinking it's his due to be Minister of Magic? Wizards should consider that I am the first Hufflepuff graduate to be a serious candidate for an elected Ministry office since, well, since forever. I've counted back to 1600 and there have been 98 different Ministers of Magic. That includes 76 Slytherin, 15 Ravenclaws, 2 Peverells, and 5 Gryffindors. I've also counted 112 losing candidates. That would be 50 Gryffindors, 40 Ravenclaws, 5 Peverells, and 17 Slytherins. I am the very first Hufflepuff."

The rear cover page gave the initial platform proposals for the Montaigne/Sprout team, with a much smaller section devoted to Slughorn/Jones. Basically Montaigne was against the plan to break up "one of the last great Wizarding estates: you cannot imagine how much help such an estate provides for all of us in dealing with the Muggle world". He also objected to "Weasley and his children's' meddling in Continental Wizarding affairs," wanted harmony among all Wizards, but was "adamantly opposed to the freeing of house Elves or additional rights for Goblins, Centaurs, Unicorns, Giants, Leprechauns and any other inferior beings whom Minister Weasley would like to make our equals," He was "determined to preserve the independence of Slytherin", and supported "a blanket amnesty, in the spirit of healing the wounds in our community, for all those who supported Voldemort or Grindelwald". He also promised to reduce tax rates and lower the Hogwarts' fees, while promising "to curb the incredible bloat at the Ministry of Magic, so that these Wizards can get on with productive work outside the Ministry." He suggested that Britain's Wizards would be well served if they "looked to the Germans for an example of how to run an efficient and effective Ministry", with the implication that this would result in tax rates a small fraction of what they are today.

As the editor had tipped Professor Slughorn to Montaigne's platform, the professor announced that "I certainly think there ought to be some penalty for those who attacked innocent Wizards in their support of Voldemort and Grindelwald. All three Wizarding schools were brutally attacked and children murdered. I don't think I can just brush that away. I'm as happy to pay less taxes as any man. I'll think about that, I haven't quite figured out how that is even possible, yet. We have quite a bit of rebuilding to do and that costs money. I saw the damage at Hogwarts and the Ministry helped a lot in restoring order. It's costing the school a lot also: I don't see how they can lower fees. I assure you that I was never paid a fortune to teach there. I know most of this is just reacting to what my opponents suggest, so let me throw out a fresh idea. I think we give up on the squibs far too soon, hiding them away or shipping them off amongst the Muggles. Perhaps they are just late developers. I don't believe in just confunding them, so they don't even know who their parents are, whilst making no effort to have Hogwarts or a special school try to teach them some magical skills, at least until they're twelve or thirteen. Is it really fair to just give up on a young Wizard at age nine or ten? Especially for a Great Family that is well equipped to provide for such a child?"

"Would any of you like to see the coverage of the announcements in Dad's paper", asked Luna.

"I'd love to my dear," Mrs. Granger enthused. Ron and I took the other copies. The Quibbler had a different view:

**Do We Really Need a Grindelwald Candidate for Minister of Magic?**

**Cowardly British Lord Fled to France, Now Seeks To Lord It Over Us.**

The articles, gave a factual account of Bruce Montaigne's platform and press conference, with more quotations than the Daily Prophet. They also included a series of past comments from Bruce or his father, expressing their extreme approval of Grindelwald and their disdain for "lesser magical creatures." There were also a couple quotes displaying almost equal disdain for "Wizards who choose to exist as nothing more than poor dirt farmers on borrowed land."

The rear cover proclaimed:

**Amnesty For Death Eaters? Over The Dead Bodies of Our Children!**

This article included a large photograph of the Colin Creevey memorial statue, along with a list of all the British Wizard children killed in the Voldemort Wars, going back to the first battles and beginning with Moaning Myrtle.

The real excitement came on page four, in what was promised to be an on-going review of Professor Slughorn's brave proposal to end the highly questionable practice 'of our so-called Wizard aristocrats, the Great Families, who abandon their own children before they are even ten years old, steal their inheritance, and don't even care to determine if they will develop magical skills at the advanced age, of say, eleven.'

As we were getting up from breakfast, Mrs. Granger turned to Luna and observed, "I think that I quite prefer the election coverage in your father's paper. By the way, I wonder if I'll be allowed to vote."

We decided to all move out to the lake for a chat, before moving on to the promised magic instruction for Filch and Mrs. Granger, and some more 'petrificus totalis' practice for Harry.

"I don't want to intrude, Harry," Mrs. Granger began, "and I know that I sometimes put my foot in Hermione's mouth with out of context comments about what Hermione has mentioned. I understand that your duel with Voldemort left you with a mental block when it comes to using offensive curses. I spent a year in America, studying hypnosis and its use in painless dentistry and relief of stress caused by all sorts of worries. I think I could help you, if you allowed me to hypnotize you. Think of it as repayment for teaching magic to me."

"Um." Harry reached out and grabbed my hand. {[a blend of fear and hope] I'm not sure I want Hermione's Mom fishing around in my head, but if it solves my problem, it might be worth the risk. Could you be there while she does it and make sure she doesn't get me talking about anything too personal?}

"I think Harry should do it, but I want to stay be him," I said to Mrs. Granger. As soon as I said this, I realized with alarm that this made me sound like an extremely intrusive and suspicious girlfriend, to anyone not privy to our whisperspeak. Mrs. Granger agreed, giving no indication that she found my comment out of line. We decided to meet in the Gryffindor common room after lunch. Fortunately, Hermione's expression revealed that she was aware that the concern I had expressed had been whispered to me by Harry.

"Now that Bruce Montaigne is running for Minister, we really ought to have Monsieur Delacour find out as much as he can about what Bruce has been up to in France," Ron suggested. "I also think we ought to ask Dad to push harder on the investigation of the circumstances and identity of the Montaigne squib."

Hermione dialed the cell phone and gave it to Ron. He made the request to Dad, who said the investigation was one of three cases being actively investigated. He wanted to learn more, before he said anything, and he wanted to relay the information in person. Ron promised that we'd come in to the Ministry tomorrow afternoon. In response to a nudge and a whisper, Ron added "Harry wants to know if he may come to the Ministry now to apologize."

The answer was yes and Harry waved goodbye as he headed to the gate to apparate.

"It just occurred to me," Hermione said, "that Bruce denounced the bombing in Diagon Alley. I'd be surprised if the Ministry or either of the papers would have described a bomb being used in the attack? How would Bruce know that, unless he was involved in the attack? The previous Death Eater attacks used magic, not bombs."

"A very good question," Ron agreed. "You should check the papers from the following morning and see exactly how they described the attack."

"I'll go to the library and check the papers, while the rest of you go back to Gryffindor and send an owl to Monsieur Delacour," Hermione suggested.

"It'll be much quicker if George and I just apparate to the Delacour estate." Ron observed. It was agreed that this was a good idea, although Luna wanted to and did accompany them.

I thought I'd better tell them something before they left. "Harry and I made a significant discovery about the rowan and phoenix wand. I think the French should be told."

When I stopped talking, there were some 'wows' as well as a more cynical comment from Hermione "I'm not sure that misidentifying the owner of the wand was an innocent mistake. I don't think Professor McGonagall wanted Harry to send that owl to Ollivander's, knowing that wand was Narcissa's. Let's not tell her what we know."

So, some of us went off to the fence, while others headed to the library. The library was enlightening. The Prophet described 'a magical attack that destroyed the front wall of a curiosity shop – the sort of attack we became all too familiar with during the incompetent Scrimgouer administration', while the Quibbler mentioned 'the sort of damage we have unfortunately learned to associate with Death Eater attacks left George Weasley's shop badly damaged. This was clearly an attack aimed at destroying the successful venture begun by the Minister's sons and Mr. Jordan'.

"I don't see any mention of a bomb in either story. Not looking good for Bruce," I observed. "Although I guess none of us saw Slughorn and Gwenog as the Grindelwald slate."

Harry returned looking very chastened. Little was said. As we walked to the Room of Requirement, Harry touched my wrist {[guilt and worry] Please forgive me. That was an awful meeting. I can't believe I asked you to go in my place. I really am sorry and I promise never ever to do anything like that again.}

"You're forgiven. I can tell how sorry you are."

Mr. Filch was waiting at the Room of Requirement. He had a new wand from Mr. Ollivander. Dad had sent a note to the shop, saying that Hogwarts had confirmed that he displayed some magical talent. Filch led us into the room and Harry and I worked with him, while Hermione taught her mother. We observed that Mr. Filch was able to levitate heavier objects with more control than he had with the borrowed wand. We practiced levitation and 'lumos' until even Filch was bored with. As Hermione and her mother finished their lesson, I practiced 'petrificus totalis' with Harry, but Harry had other ideas. "Mr. Filch," he queried "how would you like to try your hand with a broom? I could go and get my Firebolt." Filch's grin totally split his face. He agreed to meet us on the Quidditch field.

Filch did surprisingly well with the Firebolt. He wasn't Harry Potter on day one, but he wasn't day one Neville Longbottom either. He was able to command the broom to rise and hover, so that he could mount it. He managed to lift off about five feet into the air and move forward a dozen feet, before falling to earth. He repeated this several times, finally managing to fly about twenty feet in a straight line and land gently. Thinking it best to end on a positive note, Harry declared that enough progress for one day. "I never thought I would ever get to do that," Filch enthused, as he pumped Harry's hand and walked away whistling a little tune.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven – What Would You Think If I Ran For Deputy Minister

We were sitting and chatting happily in the Gryffindor common room, when the portal opened and McGonagall entered. I wasn't pleased to be reminded that she could surprise us like this any time she chose. It was a flaunting of authority. Knocking and requesting admission was the standard, and far more polite, way to gain entry, even for the Headmaster.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but we have a most unusual political guest, who wants to speak to all of you. I don't know if you want to speak to him, or where you want to meet with him. He is very insistent and says it is important… Oh, I'm sorry, it's former Minister Fudge. One almost forgets that the man is still alive. Shall I send him here."

"No!" Harry decided instantly. "We'll meet him in the Great Hall. It would seem too much like an invasion to meet with him here. I don't have any fond memories of that Wizard."

"If it is any consolation, his mental balance seems far better than when last I met him. I'll tell him to expect you in the Great Hall."

"Why would Fudge want to talk to us?" Ron asked in a belligerent tone. "He can't possibly think that we like him or would help him in any way. We know he hates us. I'm smart enough to return the favor."

"There's only one way to find out," Hermione told him. "We're expecting some sort of trick, so there's no harm in hearing what he says."

"Thank you for meeting me," Fudge called out to us as the seven of us entered the Great Hall. Well, really eight of us as Barb Rich was eying Fudge warily. "I'm not a threat. As you can see, I've placed my wand on the table. I just want to talk."

"About what?" Harry's tone was curt.

"I could say that I wanted to apologize for misjudging you, but you know that I didn't come all this way for that. I'm only feeling partly apologetic, in any case. You were right about Voldemort, but you were too close to Dumbledore to be trusted. I think you've learned that I had good reason to suspect that Dumbledore was up to a lot more than he let on. I realize now that he didn't intend to overthrow me, but one must be wary of those who keep as many secrets as he did. I'm not here to talk about Dumbledore. I am concerned about the future of the Wizarding World. I'm here in friendship – to warn you."

"To warn us of what, exactly?" Harry pushed him.

"There are those who want you dead. The former Minister Thicknesse, for one. He is biding his time, but he could already have killed you, had he wished. Bruce Montaigne, for another. He has no qualms about murdering his way into the Minister's chair. Arthur wants you as his Deputy. That makes you a target. I wouldn't have even thought you wanted the job. Deputies have to take orders. You were never good at that. You and Arthur Weasley are not a good match. You are a young man of action and Arthur is not. He thinks that you will add strength to his slate and his administration, but I fear you will make him appear weak. People will say he uses his daughter to control you."

"That's not true!" Harry shouted back.

"What's not true? That Ginny will control you for Arthur, or that people will say she does. I assure you that people will say exactly that. That's just how most people are – happy to believe the worst of their leaders. We both have reason to recognize the truth in that. Besides, the Prophet and Bruce will make certain of that. I know how much you dislike the appearance of being manipulated."

"So, how are you going to save me from all of this trouble?"

"By taking your place, of course. I can be Arthur's running mate. Many who don't trust Arthur still trust me. I've laid low, I've bided my time and gotten my thoughts in order. I've broken from those like Lucius Malfoy, whom I placed too much trust in. I'm my own man and I'm far enough along in my life that if an assassin kills me, it's really not that great a loss. I'm willing to serve. There was never any hint that I liked Bruce or the Grindelwalds."

"Are you serious?" Hermione was stunned by the man's…, well affrontery is as good a word as any. "Why would Arthur want you?"

"Because, the Prophet would support me. They want a way to keep Bruce at bay, without angering his father. Old Montaigne has nothing against me. It's not like I'll be running for Minister. Deputy Minister is such a weak position – it would really be a public service to fill it. Think about it. With me as Deputy, everybody is safer."

"Is that a threat?" Ron had pulled his wand.

"No, I'm merely trying to help. Besides, I have something Arthur needs. Or at least I think I can help him find something which he badly needs. He can't fully be Minister without it. You see, I was very familiar with Scrimgouer's habits. Familiar enough to guess his actions. I have very few cards left to play and this one is my best. I shouldn't have said even this much, but I want you to know that I am serious, I can help Arthur more than Harry can, and I am as much of a friend as Arthur and you can hope to find among our politicians. There are many far, far worse than me. Our interests really do align. If you knew how much I risk simply being here... well, you'd have to trust me. Please think on my offer. If Harry turns Arthur down, as he should, I stand ready to serve. You must admit that I do have a lot of experience. I'll be honest this time. Really, I have all the wealth I could ever need. Children of your exceptional abilities deserve to live to at least the ripe old age of 30. I'm offering you a way to do that. Arthur and I could be the peace and unity ticket. Bring our people together and put all the violence and hatred behind us. McGonagall must see the wisdom in my offer. She did ask you to speak to me. I'll let myself out."

"That Wizard is as daft as he was when he left office," my brother declared. "I wonder who he's working for. Not Bruce, perhaps Thickness."

"I think he is working for himself," Hermione declared with total certainty.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve – What Would The American Psychological Association Say About This?**

Hermione's mother was very professional and gentle with Harry. It helped greatly that Harry had come to regard her as an elderly friend. With Harry's help, he was quickly entranced. Mrs. Granger did not pry into any areas that I considered out of bounds, but nevertheless quickly homed in on Harry's problems.

Even I could tell that Harry's 'issues' greatly preceded his duel with Voldemort during the Battle of Hogwarts. It turned out that he felt a large measure of guilt because his mother had surrendered her life to save his. He had a very idealized view of his mother, and felt unworthy of that sacrifice. I didn't fully understand this, never having doubted that Voldemort surely would also have murdered Harry's Mom, had she willingly surrendered her infant to save herself. But what mother could do such a thing? Certainly not mine! Harry also felt guilty about cajoling Cedric Diggory to share the 'honor' of simultaneously retrieving the Triwizard Cup. He was telling the truth a few days ago, when he said he gave the prize to the twins because he couldn't bear to keep it.

He had deliberately avoided using killing curses when the multiple Harries fled the Dursley household, because he just wasn't able to come to terms with killing someone. He knew that 'petrificus totalis', and many other acceptable curses, were lethal when flying at a thousand feet. He also felt responsible for those who perished on his flight to freedom who might have lived had he been able to 'Avada Kedavra' a few Death Eaters. I felt that, if anything, his choice of curse only drew attention to himself, with Hagrid being the only other Wizard who shared the increased risk from that decision.

Harry believed that others remained at risk because he and McGonagall had been unable to dispatch the Carrows. That was silly and Mrs. Granger told him so. Who among us could have coldly executed the enemy, as they lay trussed and unconscious on ground we controlled? McGonagall had killed in the past and she also walked away from that opportunity for slaughter. I know that I could not have harmed the fallen Carrows. I was glad that Harry couldn't either. I can be a fierce fighter, but I can't see myself becoming that sort of cold killer or snogging one.

Harry's greatest fear, and his incentive for allowing himself to be hypnotized, was that he thought if he remained helpless, sooner or later I or another friend would die trying to save him. For that reason, he was determined to reach the point where he could use potent offensive curses in self-defense. He admitted that he had withdrawn from me, and from Ron and Hermione in the past, out of a belief that he was making the sacrifice of loneliness to protect us.

Mrs. Granger told him he was a very good person, but that even very good people are entitled to defend themselves and other innocents against killers. She told him that 'expelliarmus' was not a killing curse and that he could safely use it. Most importantly, in my opinion, she told him that just as he had chosen to sacrifice to save others, everyone else had an equal right to decide a fight was worth joining, even if that fight was to save Harry.

When Mrs. Granger unhypnotized him, Harry still seemed to be the same old Harry. Only time would tell if the treatment was effective. At least Harry had a smile and a confident walk as we went down to dinner.

Harry was seated on my right, and Hermione and then her mother on my left, so I was able to pick up the whispered conversation between mother and daughter, but was quite sure Harry could not.

"So, do you think you helped Harry, Mom?"

"I don't know. There are tough ethical issues involved in doing very much. I'm a dentist, not a psychologist, but I learned enough in my psychology training to know that an unwillingness to kill people is not considered a mental disorder by the American Psychological Association. I couldn't justify making him comfortable with killing, other than in cases when it is unavoidable to prevent himself or another being harmed. I think I did help him to understand the roots of his thinking. I think I left him feeling a bit more comfortable with himself and a bit more willing to accept help from others. I think you'll find he can perform the 'expelliarmus' spell quite well."

"Thanks, Mom. I think tomorrow we'll go to Olivander's and get you a wand of your own. A personal wand has improved Filch's talents, and I think you'll see the same improvement. I've brought you some other First Year texts, which you can start reading. I can help with anything you don't understand. We can practice configurations together and Professor McGonagall has even given me permission to work with you in the potions lab. Neville is anxious to show you through his greenhouses. We should be able to pick up the credit cards for Harry and me when we go to the Ministry tomorrow, then we'll be able to purchase the emergency generator and start setting up Dad's shop."

We were halfway through our dessert, when George, Ron, and Luna returned and joined us. "It's okay, the Delacours fed us. Well, perhaps just a little trifle," George shooed away Harry's offer to search out food. "Monsieur Delacour says he'll dig for more information on Bruce, but already knows he has a dodgy reputation. He was quite close with LeDoux. Even before that, he was on the French aurors' radar as that rare Wizard likely to stir up big trouble with the Muggles. He is an extremely aggressive stock and bond trader, who isn't afraid to cut corners. He was arrested once, but bought his way out with a financial settlement, so he's never been convicted. He was investigated a couple other times by the police for suspected swindles, but there wasn't enough evidence. One of the key witnesses against him vanished days before Bruce was to be arrested. In his investment business, he associated with a couple of dodgy Muggle Brits, George Kempen and Reginald Fortescue. Fortescue has been in Muggle prison the past two years.

"Monsieur Delacour says Bruce made a lot of money over the past decade, and has supplied the majority of LeDoux's financing for his political organization - as in he outright paid half a dozen semi-thugs, who made up LeDoux's staff prior to the his election as Deputy Minister. The French aurors who were following Bron Turner observed a meeting between Bron, Bruce, and Meier Hyack. Delacour's men tried to capture Hyack, but he disapparated. They were able to get a photograph. Other than that, the French report that Bron has behaved very professionally in shadowing Stowe's path across France. Bron reported that he was approached by Bruce, whom he knew to be Lord Montaigne's son and influential in his own right, with an offer to speak to him as someone aware of all that Tom Stowe did in France. He even reported the meeting with Bruce, before attending the meeting with Hyack. That's how the French aurors almost caught Hyack. When the aurors pounced, Bron asked, 'why are you interested in that Wizard and who is he, really? I was told that he was the top reporter for the Wizard newspaper over here. Monsieur Delacour explained the significance of Hyack and said 'Bron looked genuinely surprised'.

"Bruce's personal life is also problematic. Our Bruce now lives alone, in a very stylish house, with Muggle servants. Until very recently, he lived with a very attractive young British Muggle artist. She hasn't been seen for a week, and there is a suspicion that Bruce may have killed her and hidden the body. They don't think that she voluntarily moved out, because several of her metal sculptures and two half finished oil paintings of Bruce remained. So did what seemed to be all of her art supplies and most of her clothes. Bruce claims to have bought the art, to help a struggling friend. He says they had a fight and when he returned home from a night of gambling, she was gone. I should have mentioned that our Bruce spends his nights in trendy Muggle nightclubs with both young Muggle women and boys. There have been allegations of sexual assault with date rape drugs, but the victims' blood was always clean, so the Muggle police did nothing. Delacour is sure he uses a magical spell or potion. Bruce had to pay off several 'special friends' and the Muggle government has complained to the French Ministry about him. One of the young women was fourteen and one of the young men was thirteen. Bruce also sucks up to the kids' Moms, mostly rich widows."

"I can well imagine he doesn't want to spend his time hunting with his Dad on the family estate," Hermione told George. "I'm surprised he is willing to risk the public exposure of a political contest."

"I honestly don't believe he considered my father at all," Luna stated with pride. "Without Daddy, the press wouldn't report any problems at all. The Daily Prophet will support Bruce wholeheartedly."

"Still, I'm surprised he's running for Minister," George agreed with Hermione. "Monsieur Delacour promised to send 'ample documentation'."

"I wonder what the American Psychological Association would say about Bruce," I mused to Hermione.

"Ah, you overheard what Mom said to me about Harry. I hope you weren't offended. I don't think we said anything at all disparaging."

"I'm not upset at all," I replied.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen – The Great Debate**

Before returning to the common room, Harry pulled Draco aside and they had several minutes of heated conversation. Draco turned to walk away, but then returned for several more minutes of calmer discussion. They finally separated and Harry walked back to the common room with us.

"Draco was not at all willing to meet with Lucius. He suggested that I persuade his mother and father to meet without him. Draco finally agreed to meet Lucius with three conditions: his mother has to approve, Lucius has to apologize before saying another word, and I have to supervise the meeting in a safe location. We should drop in on Narcissa tomorrow, after we visit the Ministry. I want to have further discussion with our friend Bill. In any event, I have been remiss in not checking how my guests have been getting along together."

Following in the pattern of Muggle elections, the Daily Prophet had arranged a debate among the three candidates for Minister of Magic. It was scheduled for the next morning in the Entry Hall of the Ministry. We all planned to be in attendance. From there, Harry and I would visit Grimmauld place, while the others would go wand shopping with Hermione's Mom.

There were over a thousand Witches and Wizards in attendance for the debate. Certainly most of them were Ministry employees, including a very large contingent of aurors to provide security. The debate began with each candidate giving ten minutes of opening remarks, which were basically a detailed description of their campaign platforms, which we were already familiar with.

Professor Slughorn's ears, as well as ours, perked up as Bruce was concluding his opening remarks extolling the virtues of the traditional Wizarding ways: "I am not ashamed to present myself as the conservative defender of the traditional Wizard way of life. The acting Minister proposes to greatly disrupt the age-old rhythms of Wizard life. He proposes to make Elves the equals of Wizards and end the proud tradition of House Elves assisting their Wizard masters. The Minister would do so in a way that would cause significant economic strain on traditional Wizard families. He would tamper with the traditions of the great Slytherin House at Hogwarts, destroying the uniqueness of that institution. He would allow Hogwarts curriculum to depart from tradition in dangerous new ways, including borrowing ideas and students from our less successful Continental cousins. He would break up one of the great Wizard estates, with no consideration for how that makes it more difficult for Wizards to prosper as they hide from Muggles. He would embarrass proud Wizard families by prying into their deepest family secrets. He would encourage children to take up new vocations and depart from the ways of their own families. In short, he would risk our whole community by increasing the chance of exposure to the Muggles, tamper with a Wizard economy that has sustained itself for generations, increase taxes on the most productive traditional members of Wizard society, and trample upon the traditional life and values that most Wizards hold dear. My family has sacrificed and fought for generations to maintain the traditional Wizard way of life and I intend to do my part to stop these radicals from trampling what I hold dear. I think many of you will join me in this fight."

Dad was itching to respond, but Professor Slughorn had drawn the lot to speak second. He gave a very concise summary of his and Gwenog's platform, including a defense of Slytherin, leaving him time for "just a few remarks on what young Bruce has said. I think that I speak for most of us in showing compassion for the sacrifices that Bruce and his family have made to preserve your way of life. While many of you have had the pleasure of living in a few rooms, without central heat or electricity, scratching out a bare existence from a small plot of land and the pittance that you can earn from a Ministry job or other work, Bruce has had to absent himself from these traditional pleasures. While you luxuriate in the traditional Wizard life, Bruce is forced to labor on your behalf in the best Muggle resorts, casinos, and night clubs on the Continent. During the very infrequent times when he is back in Britain, Bruce and his father are not allowed to live in a typical Wizard cottage. They are forced by their duties to interact with the Muggles and to live in a large castle, to which they felt compelled to add a large modern wing with electricity, Muggle electronic entertainments, central heat, what the Muggles call air conditioning to give a cooler, more temperate and less humid atmosphere, which is more pleasant to Muggles, but an unending curse to Wizards like the Montaignes. Lord Montaigne has helped you hide in plain sight from the Muggles by diverting attention to himself, as he drives about in big Muggle cars, flies in Muggle planes instead of a broom, attended Muggle schools instead of Hogwarts, and spends much of his time at Muggle parties and in the Muggle Parliament. This must be extremely painful to a Wizard traditionalist.

"Bruce has sacrificed even more than his father. He also uses magic to take advantage of young Muggle boys and girls, so that the attention of the Muggle police is directed at himself and not us. Bruce has entirely denied himself the pleasures of the traditional Wizard life, so that we all can enjoy it ourselves. The Gringotts bank, which the Montaignes control, even gives up the chance for added profit, so that the rest of us Wizards are not tempted to borrow money and go into nontraditional businesses to better support our families. His family's moral strength compensates for our weaknesses. He has even assisted the Great Families back to the traditional ways, denying loans to the Black and Parkinson families, as a way of ruining their nontraditional businesses and forcing them back to the traditional Wizard path of, I suppose it's best referred to as, poverty. Ah, I see my time has expired".

Dad was able to spend his time describing and supporting his platform. That focus made his presentation more persuasive than the others. The final part of the debate had each candidate asking questions of the other two candidates. This time Slughorn drew the first opportunity to question his opponents. To Dad he asked "You are basically running based upon your fame as a war hero and someone who was wounded and nearly killed by Voldemort's snake, Nagini, during the long war with Voldemort. Most Wizards failed to show the courage that you displayed, but really what credentials do you have that indicate that you can manage an organization like the Ministry of Magic?" To Bruce he asked, "Isn't it true that you left Britain involuntarily and under a cloud as part of a deal to escape prosecution for taking advantage of a young Hogwarts student? It was a boy as I recall."

Dad gave a calm recitation of his career in the Ministry and the several departments he had headed. He said he knew and was friendly with most everyone in the building and probably understood the daily workings of the Ministry better than either of his opponents. He then went back to an explanation of how some of his platform proposals would help Wizard families live better.

Bruce defended himself by saying, "no formal charges were ever made against me by the Office of Magical Law Enforcement. I agreed to leave Britain for a short period of time, despite what I viewed as very insubstantial and unproven charges, to spare embarrassment to my family. I think what I do in my private life is my own concern. I am forced to live among the Muggles more than other Wizards are because as the future Lord Montaigne, I must be the Wizarding community's representative to and protector from the Muggles. This forces me farther from the traditional Wizarding ways than I would prefer, but that is my responsibility and I accept it. I assure you that, when I am Lord Montaigne, I will live in the original portion of the castle, only, and without electricity or Muggle pleasures. I only wish that I were allowed to travel by broom instead of by Muggle devices."

Bruce's first question was to Professor Slughorn and he simply said, "As Professor Slughorn, who by the way is no longer a professor, is also not a real candidate, I have no questions for the buffoon." He then used his time to extol the virtues of traditional Wizard life – solid values that hadn't changed for a thousand years. To Dad he said, "Three great institutions have sustained the Wizards and their way of life for five hundred years, yet you propose major changes to Hogwarts, the Ministry, and Gringotts. How can we be assured that your radical policies won't have very serious unintended consequences? I don't doubt your sincerity, or your courage, but I think you are a very unrealistic Wizard, who has led a very sheltered life and is in so far over your head that you can't even realize that you're drowning."

"What you call my sheltered life, is a far closer approximation of the traditional Wizard lifestyle than you have ever lived," Dad replied. "I've lived that life and seen its good points and bad points. I want better for the next generation. I think most parents do. Trust me, I still have plenty of air in my lungs and I could outrace you on a broom any time you feel up to the challenge."

Dad asked Bruce, "You propose reducing taxes and school fees for all, even the wealthiest Wizards, at a time when Hogwarts, the Ministry, and the whole Wizarding world need to rebuild from the damage caused by the Death Eaters. You also don't want Gringotts to loan any money. How will you pay for the rebuilding?" To Professor Slughorn he asked, "Don't you believe that at least some modest changes in the way that Slytherin House is supervised might be desirable to avoid creating a new generation of Death Eaters?" Slughorn actually scored points on Dad with a very good answer. Bruce did less well.

We congratulated both Dad and Professor Slughorn after the debate and then returned to Hogwarts. Harry decided to tackle Narcissa on another day, when there were fewer Wizards traveling around London. The debate was the only topic of conversation at both lunch and dinner and even at breakfast the following morning.

Even Draco observed, "Bruce doesn't seem like much of a Wizard, which is probably why he is so nostalgic for living in a damp hut."

We went back to Gryffindor to gather our thoughts and plan exactly what we wanted to say to both Dad and Narcissa, and then set off for the Ministry.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen – A Family Reunion**

We arrived at the Ministry an hour before lunch, hoping to have lunch with Dad. Dad was tied up, but Prudence said we could all get together for a late lunch in two hours. We took the time to recharge our cell phones in the shop and to visit the library to gather all the information they had on Bruce Montaigne and his father. The head librarian, Harry Device, chatted us up for a few minutes, saying it was a pleasure to work for Dad and asking if we had met his daughter, Erin, who was a sixth year at Hogwarts. I told him that I had seen her and spoken a couple of times, but that the quirks of Hogwarts did not put Ravenclaws and Gryffindors into classrooms together.

"Yeah," Ron amplified, "the professors seem to think that we prefer to spend all our time with the Slytherins."

Mr. Device said that he hoped that we could be friends with Erin, as she was doubtlessly having a hard time, due to a natural shyness and his having to insist upon her breaking up with a most inappropriate boyfriend: "a young ruffian, from what I could tell, and one whose politics we would all find a little suspect." I promised to treat Erin kindly during the coming term and we departed from Mr. Device with his thanks and best wishes.

Harry also suggested we check up on Doctor Sprout. The likeliest fertile source of information was the back copies of the newspapers. We decided to start twenty years back, to a little before when Bruce graduated from Hogwarts. The library had Daily Prophets, Evening Prophets, and Quibblers going back that far, so we pulled out three years' worth of papers, divided them up, and started poring through them. Luna said there was no need to go through the Quibblers, her father was already doing that and she would ask him to look for information on Doctor Sprout as well as Bruce and his father. Harry added that everyone should also be looking for information on Doctor Brown. We had nearly completed our tedious review of four years of the Prophets, when Dad and his aurors joined us. We explained what we were up to, and Dad promised to have Prudence finish the work. We brought our findings to our lunch, which Dad had set up in the conference room, so that we could discuss them together.

Dad did not supply the same gourmet eating that we had come to expect from Shacklebolt, but the cheeseburgers were fine. The table was full, since we had the eight of us, plus Dad, Prudence, and Mr. and Mrs. Granger. "The case of the Montaigne squib, which we had pulled aside for further investigation, has proven quite interesting," Dad started. "So interesting, in fact, that we got the records from The New Start Society, using my contacts with the Muggle government. The Montaigne child was named Martin, and he was born just over 87 years ago. He entered Doctor Brown's program 78 years ago, when he was nine years of age. The documentation retained by Doctor Brown was woefully inadequate in supporting legal compliance. Piecing together the St. Mungo's file and the New Start Society file and payments, we believe that Martin was placed for adoption with a London doctor named Winston Evans and his wife Sylvia. The date of the placement is two months after Martin was 'treated' at St. Mungo's. No squibs were treated between those two dates.

"Martin was renamed William Winston Evans and was educated in British public schools, graduating from Eton and Cambridge. He went on to become a small town doctor, married at age 30 and had two daughters, Petunia and Lily. He died, in what can only be described as a highly suspicious accident, sixteen years ago. Called out to a patient at night, he parked his car across the road from the patient's home, and was run over and killed as he crossed the road. The police initially put it down as an accident, but the patient claimed not to have phoned for the doctor's assistance. Dr. Evans received no further monies from the Society after he set up his medical practice. We're still checking to confirm our facts, but the evidence as of now would make Dudley Dursley the rightful Lord Montaigne."

Harry cut right to the chase, "Are you suggesting that the Montaignes had my grandfather murdered?"

"I don't know, but it is certainly suggestive. We're pursuing the other cases as well. One subject of inquiry will be a consideration of whether or not the Society and the Families owe compensation to the offspring of the squibs, or possibly non-squibs, that they placed with the Muggles. We're also making discrete inquiries in an attempt to find out if there was anything 'strange' about Harry's grandfather. We're also going to check on his grandmother. We now have both Hermione and Harry's mother as 'Muggle-born' Wizards, whom we now know had at least one parent from among the children placed in the Muggle world by the St. Mungo's program.

"Amelia also intends to look at some more of the files, initially from the Dr. Brown days, since Doctor Sprout seems reasonably clean. She is very, and I can't stress this strongly enough, very carefully exploring the two Gaunt cases. If Voldemort's father was a Gaunt, that could be both significant and troublesome. Both Lucius and Doctor Sprout are making complaints of the politicizing of magical law enforcement, on account of the good doctor's and Bruce's candidacy. I asked them what they thought I should do in light of the evidence suggesting that Harry Potter or his Muggle cousin might be the rightful owner of the Montaigne estate. They had agreed to the need to provide appropriate restitution in the 'doubtful' confunding cases. It will be very hard to demonstrate that Harry's grandfather had magical abilities, because part of the confunding that was superimposed on his brain would have been an inhibition and dread of anything hinting of magic. He could have developed as strong magical skills as any of us at age eleven, but nobody would ever know.

"Doctor Sprout was still indignant, but Lucius seemed interested in this as a way to get the upper hand on the Montaignes. He agreed that Doctor Evan's suspicious death was justification for further digging. Now then, I understand you've dug up some information also."

Ron summarized what they had learned about Bruce from the French Ministry, and then moved on to our newspaper research. "For the heir to the most prominent Wizard family, there wasn't a lot written about him. Almost twenty years ago, there was a large celebration at the Montaigne estate to celebrate Bruce's Hogwarts graduation. The article says he's going to join his father in running the Montaigne estate and lumber business. A year later, he's going to a Ministry reception with his parents and a Slytherin girl he was dating. A year after that, it's reported that he has moved to London and is joining the Malfoy financial firm as a junior partner. Another year later, he's at another Ministry reception with the Malfoys and a different Slytherin girl as his date.

A few months afterwards, there is a report that a fifteen year old Slytherin boy has accused him of sexual assault. A month later, there's a follow-up article saying all charges have been withdrawn. Almost a year later, it's announced that he is going to France to matriculate at the Sorbonne. That's as far as we got in our research. Bruce left for France only two weeks after Harry's grandfather was killed."

"Highly suggestive, but not definitive," Dad replied. "A photo of Bruce, Meier Hyack, and Bron Turner is fairly damning evidence, but only to someone who knows of Meier Hyack's likely role in directing the attacks on Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, and who is as suspicious of Bron as we are. Otherwise, it can be explained away as Bruce helpfully assisting Bron in doing his job of questioning Hyack. Our electorate, and even the Wizengamot, cannot be trusted to put much stock on accusations from the French. Our conservative Great Family Wizards see the French as soft and decadent. They would likely excuse Bruce's personal indiscretions as a combination of French influence taking hold of him and exaggeration due to French Wizards resenting all things British."

We all must have looked very surprised and disappointed, because Dad did a slight double take before continuing, "Every community has its little prejudices and sense of superiority. It's difficult to dislodge and it colors perceptions. That is the biggest thing that has hampered closer relations between British Wizards and those on the Continent. The international Quidditch Tournament and Triwizard Cup competition were very unusual attempts to spur increased contact and cooperation among Wizarding communities. The Ministry thought that contacts between the schools would continue, but obviously they did not. We have our own sources of antagonism, but also mirror the antipathies of the Muggle communities in which we live. Very few Wizards fought in the last great Muggle war, but we blame the foreign Wizard community as much as the foreign Muggles for our losses.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get this gloomy. I really am pleased that we've learned so much about Bruce and have done so this quickly. It makes me a little nervous, however. It's hard to imagine a Wizard whose shady past is so easily discovered daring to run for Minister. He must have very powerful motivation for doing so. I fear what that motivation might be.

"To cheer you up, Harry's and Hermione's credit cards have arrived and we've created Muggle bank accounts, so you can start equipping the Hogwarts shop and introducing some electricity to the school. It'll put you on more of a par with the Montaignes and Death Eaters. I'll also do a check of Ministry records concerning young Montaigne's brush with the law before he left Britain. Is that all we need to discuss?"

"Well, actually Sir," Harry began, "there is something else we need to discuss, but we should be alone for it." Dad dismissed his aurors and everyone except Ron, Hermione, Harry, Mom, and me, before Harry continued. "I feel a need to visit the new lodger in my house. Bill, the auror, is far from a natural companion for Narcissa. I was going to go see how they were doing after our meeting here. I also planned to arrange a meeting between Narcissa and Lucius. Draco said he would not talk to his father, unless his mother gives her approval and unless Lucius apologizes for his actions with Pansy."

"I still don't like that you are harboring Bill," Dad replied. "I agree it is looking more and more as if he were set up by Bron, but there is an auror alert out for him and technically, well more than technically, you are sheltering a fugitive and interfering with the aurors' role in magical law enforcement. I know you have reason not to trust the aurors, but you've made yourself into a criminal and enabled Narcissa to be a witness against you. I don't like giving the Malfoys such a large weapon to use against you. It makes the other thing that I wanted to discuss with you very much more difficult.

"As you know, we've passed the deadline for Minister/Deputy candidates to register with the Ministry. What you may not know is that the day after tomorrow is the last chance to substitute a candidate for Kingsley, if he is still unconscious. I had planned to promote myself on the ticket and ask you to run as Deputy, but the whole campaign could implode if Narcissa were to accuse you of sheltering a fugitive, especially since this would be the second time that you committed this particular crime. What would happen if Bill murdered Narcissa inside your house?"

"Not to be facetious, but I assure you that in that case, Kreacher would deal with Bill and neither body would ever be found. They'd become legendary fugitives. Alright, no, seriously, I do realize I'm taking a risk," Harry replied. "I just have a strong inclination to help people who are in trouble, if I believe them to be innocent. Brave people, including you, helped me when I was falsely accused. I like to return the favor to other innocents in need. I felt good about helping Sirius, and I hope to feel good about this. Bill isn't going to kill Narcissa, Kreacher will protect her.

"You needn't worry about it affecting your election. I'm not interested in running for Deputy, anyway, so there is no need for you to worry about my embarrassing you. Hermione is more qualified to be Deputy Minister than I am. She'll be much better at studying things and developing policies. I'm more cut out to be an auror. Kingsley may wake up tomorrow and eliminate the need to shuffle the ticket. I don't mean to cut this short, but it's time for me to head out to Grimmauld Place and check on Bill. Hermione is going to take her parents to Diagon Alley to get a wand from Ollivander for her mother."

"I think you're overreacting, Harry," Dad soothed, "I still want you to run for Deputy, I was just pointing out a potential problem, which I wish you wouldn't have created. I'm not sure it's safe for just you and Ginny to go to Grimmauld Place or Hermione to escort her parents in Diagon Alley. And you must know that the aurors are watching Grimmauld Place."

"Why would the aurors of your administration still be watching my house? What reason, well other than Narcissa and Bill, have I ever given you to mistrust me?"

"I'm not entirely sure why the aurors are there. I didn't give them that assignment and I've received no reports from them. I haven't interfered with their investigations, thinking Kingsley must have had a good reason for what he did. I'll have to find out. Please give some more thought to running for Deputy Minister. You would improve my odds of winning."

As we left the office, I heard Mom whisper to Dad, "You could have handled that better."

When we rejoined the others, George said he'd be happy to accompany the Grangers to Diagon Alley, taking the opportunity to look in on the shop and see how Lee was making out with the repairs. Luna said she'd go with George. Neville and Ron agreed to guard Harry and me during our visit to Grimmauld Place.

We apparated flush up against the front door of Grimmauld Place and Harry pulled a key from the inside pocket of his robes and let us into the entry hall. He called out to announce our presence, as we moved into the sitting room. It was an improvement to have nothing left in the hallway to scream at our entrance, although perhaps that reflected an unfortunate lessening of security. The first resident to arrive was Kreacher. "Yes, Master, what service do you require of Kreacher?"

"I mainly need to talk to Narcissa. I have messages from her husband and son. I'll also need to speak to Bill. How have the two of them been getting along?"

"They don't like each other, but they get along. Kreacher keeps them safe. There have been no visitors, but the house is watched."

"I know. I learned that for some reason the Ministry has an auror watching my house."

Kreacher left and fetched Narcissa. "I apologize for not greeting you, when you arrived. Kreacher insists security requires that I stay out of sight until he has cleared anyone who comes to the door. Kreacher says you've worried about Bill and me. We're getting along well enough and aren't a threat to each other. Just two outlaws hiding out together. You have a message from Draco?"

Harry explained Lucius's desire for a meeting and Draco's conditions, ending with "the Minister thinks it important to grant Lucius's request for the meetings. I want to do it in a way that Lucius doesn't know that you and Bill are hiding in my house."

"Trust me, I have no desire for Lucius to know where he can find me. I appreciate your sheltering me and certainly won't give you away. I'm willing to meet Lucius, but not at all sure that I'll give my blessing for a meeting with Draco. I'd like to see Draco. Perhaps he and I can meet at Hogwarts?"

"That's fine. We can leave as soon as I speak to Bill. Would you ask him to come down and see us?"

It seemed clear that Bill was not happy being cooped up in the dank of Grimmauld Place with a woman and an Elf, whom he did not trust. He was cheered by the news that Bron was under suspicion and being tracked as he moved across France. "I'd like to be able to do something to help. Being locked up here just makes me feel useless."

"You have to stay here until you are cleared," Harry explained, restating what Bill already knew, "but you can help us by thinking about anything you can remember about Bron, Tom Stowe, and their contacts with the other aurors. We still don't know whom to trust within the auror corps. If you wrote down everything you know about each auror that would be a help. I'll come back within a few days to pick up your notes and fill you in on what we've learned about Bron. Minister Shacklebolt is still unconscious, so he can't help us understand what happened at his country house."

Since Bill seemed to crave information about the outside world, I filled him in about the Montaigne candidacy for Minister and the shenanigans that Dr. Sprout had revealed about the squib program. Bill said he'd collect his thoughts and make a few notes on the Montaignes and Dr. Sprout, as well. "Nothing earth shattering, but I can dredge up some recollections. I remember seeing the two of them together a few times, when I pulled guard duty at the hospital. I'll send you an owl with my thoughts."

"I'd rather you not send an owl," Harry concluded. "The aurors are watching this house."

We said goodbye to Bill, collected Narcissa and had Kreacher transport us back to Hogwarts. We would have gone to the Ministry, but Dad was adamant that he didn't want Kreacher or Narcissa apparating to his office. We couldn't disagree. It was really just an elementary security precaution.

As soon as we reached Hogwarts, Harry dismissed Kreacher, asking him to protect Bill and warning that it was important not to let the auror watcher learn that the house was occupied. As soon as Kreacher disapparated, the rest of us set off for Professor McGonagall's office. She was meeting with Professor Sprout and asked us to wait. Fearing word passing back to Sprout's brother, we hid Mrs. Malfoy out of sight until Professor Sprout descended the stairs and disappeared around a turn in the corridor.

Professor McGonagall sent a Patronus to retrieve Draco as soon as she saw that we had Narcissa with us. Not wanting to share secrets with Narcissa, Professor McGonagall limited herself to meaningless pleasantries and offering of refreshments, until Draco entered the office. He had brought Pansy with him. There were hugs and a kiss and assurances that each of them was safe. Pansy was included in the hugging and also received a kiss on the cheek from Narcissa. It was clear that at least one parent was willing to happily welcome her into the Malfoy family. Narcissa told Draco that she thought it would be alright for him to meet with his father, under these very controlled conditions, but that she would meet first with Lucius, to set ground rules and to clear the way. She reiterated that Draco was not to leave Hogwarts and was to do whatever Professor McGonagall asked of him.

"Things are going to be dangerous, at least until after the election. Apparently, that fool Bruce Montaigne has decided to contest the election, and he has a lot of bully-boy trouble makers in back of him. Your father has information that should pretty well finish him off, though. Just wait and let him and his friends be drawn into the open, and then your father can pounce. This was just a short visit that I begged of Harry, but I'll be back soon to have a private dinner with you and Pansy. Unless your father has a note from me, you are not to speak to him. Goodbye, Draco. I love you."

"Don't worry," Harry assured Narcissa. "If you don't give me a note, Lucius isn't coming here at all." We all walked back to the gate at the main entrance. Since we didn't want to reveal McGonagall's 'apparation pocket' to Pansy or the Malfoys, we went outside the gate to disapparate. Seconds later we were standing in the Entry Hall of the Ministry. We took the elevator up and walked to Dad's ante-room. His assistant told us to go right into his office, that Dad and Mr. Malfoy were expecting us.

This family reunion was not as warm as the last one. There was no hugging or kissing, in fact they stayed on opposite sides of the room and spoke across us to each other. Lucius conceded "from what I hear Draco is safe at Hogwarts. I tried to rescue him because I feared for his safety. In addition to losing my freedom, I did succeed in forcing an improvement in security."

"Draco could have been killed in the cross-fire of your attack, and your little adventure allowed a real Death Eater to slip into Hogwarts. He could have harmed our son. You also sent Umbridge to see Pansy and Draco, not being smart enough to realize she was working for Thicknesse and bringing poison to murder Draco."

"Narcissa, I admit that my rescue attempt didn't go as planned and that I misjudged my hold over Umbridge. Still, I acted in the best interest of our family."

"As did I, when I told Voldemort that Potter was dead!"

"I agree that I may have reacted overly harshly to that, but it was a very emotional time. I didn't want to see you in order to continue our spat of that night. I want our family to be reunited. I want to see our son."

"I think you know that he is very angry with you because of your dealings with Pansy Parkinson. He also did not like your attempt to kidnap him. He decided on his own to remain at Hogwarts, as did Pansy."

"I'm not even going to fight with you about your attempt to cement Draco's relationship with Pansy. It is a dereliction of his duty as the heir of a Great Family to consider a relationship with somebody like Pansy. It's not a marriage that brings any advantage to our family."

"That's for Draco to decide. He has his own life to live. It is not his duty to give up his life to advance your personal dreams of increased power. I want our son to be happy and safe. Pansy is a good girl and good for Draco. I don't want Draco to feel that he was trapped in a marriage, as I was trapped."

"Surely, it hasn't been all that bad for you."

"I won't deny that there were good times, Lucius, but, all in all, I've felt very trapped and smothered. Do you imagine that it was pleasant for me to spend so much time with your Death Eater friends? This past year has been a horror. I thought to leave that sort of thinking behind, when I left my parents' home."

"This past year hasn't been happy for me, either. I didn't expect that Voldemort would become quite what he became. But, you didn't give up any great prospects when you married me. Neither of us was in a position to refuse our parents. I've never thought….. This really isn't the time or place to discuss this. As I said, I don't want to fight with you about this. Do you object to my seeing our son?"

"Are you willing to give him the apology he wants? Are you willing to promise that you won't try to kidnap him again or attempt to persuade him to leave the safety of Hogwarts?"

"If those are the conditions, I'm willing to accept them."

"Then yes, I'll write a note to Draco saying it is alright for you to speak to him, but I will be present for that meeting."

"I don't really have a choice, Narcissa."

"You can meet in my conference room," Dad offered. "None of you will be able to apparate from the room, and there will be aurors outside to prevent any kidnappings. There also will be a neutral observer present, to prevent anything being passed to or from Lucius. You are still a prisoner."

"I have to accept that, as well," was all that Lucius replied.

"Then, I suggest that Harry go and fetch Draco, while you and Narcissa wait in the conference room," Dad concluded.

Narcissa wrote a note for Harry to give to Draco. After the Malfoys were led to the conference room, Harry went to the ante-room and apparated. Ten minutes later, Harry arrived at the conference room with Draco. The neutral observer turned out to be Hermione. I suspect Dad felt a little satisfaction, tweaking the Malfoys by including a Muggle-born at their family reunion. Lucius certainly looked displeased and a tad awkward when Hermione was presented as the neutral observer.

While we were waiting for the Malfoys to complete their meeting, Dad turned the discussion to other matters. "Hermione and her parents returned from the lunchroom, while you were at Hogwarts. They didn't spend nearly as much time at Ollivander's as you spent with Narcissa, but they did encounter Frakes and Xenophilius as they entered the Reception Hall. The press wanted to meet with them with regard to the squib controversy and the contention that Mrs. Granger was 'squibbed out', despite having magical powers. Mrs. Granger put on a most impressive performance for the reporters. That was most gratifying. Um, I also want to say, Harry, that I hope you will reconsider and run for Deputy Minister. The chances of Shacklebolt recovering in time seem remote."

"I still think Hermione would do the job better than me," Harry replied. "She is better at that sort of thing and she will be more willing to check everything she does with you in advance, than I could ever be. On Minister Shacklebolt, I think you really need to have a doctor other than Doctor Sprout taking responsibility for his care. Sprout has a fairly strong incentive to make sure he doesn't wake up until after the election, if at all."

"I would not insist that you get advance approval from me for all your undertakings. I didn't do so with Kingsley. I agree that Hermione is very well suited to performing the duties of Deputy Minister, but she is not at all suited to getting elected to that position. You would bring a public acclaim to the ticket that Hermione simply would not. I'll check into getting a more independent doctor for the Minister. We can talk further, when we get the opinion of that doctor.

"On another subject, I've received the documentation on Bruce Montaigne that Monsieur Delacour promised to send. It's hard to imagine his business or private lives appealing to conservative Wizards or that some of the favorable things that he has said about Grindelwald will be palatable to those who opposed Voldemort. We've found a little about Bruce's arrest, before he left Britain. The boy who accused him is now the Malfoy estate manager. He's already in custody, because of his role in the attack on Hogwarts. The Office of Magical Law Enforcement is going to question him about his accusation against Bruce. I'm going to ask Lucius to tell his manager to cooperate with the investigation. We're also checking the names of the squibs placed into the Muggle world against the known business associates of the Malfoys and Montaignes.

"Professor Slughorn made a statement today that Bruce Montaigne has been making money in a financial conspiracy involving the 'displaced squibs supported by his father's foundation'. Slughorn was in the Entry Hall an hour ago, giving his comments to the press. That's why they were here and in good position to snag the Grangers. Viktor also spoke at the Slughorn event. He didn't endorse any candidate, but gave a point by point history of Grindelwald and his supporters and all of the Wizards whom they have killed and terrorized over the years. He urged the press not to ignore the Continent and just assume Grindelwald is somehow quaint and good, because he was a little distant in geography and is now dead. Dumbledore had good reason to oppose him. He was Voldemort with a smattering of pretty paint to cover the rough edges, but the same raging egomania and willingness to kill. I watched from the side and thoroughly enjoyed the press conference. I'm curious who put Slughorn up to running. I couldn't have done better had I chosen him myself. He exudes charm, but he just keeps bashing Montaigne and his supporters. It doesn't hurt at all that he's great friends with Barnabas Cuffe, the editor over at The Daily Prophet. The reporters don't dare attack Slughorn the way I'd be attacked if I said some of those things. Also, I have no idea how Slughorn finds out about some things faster than I do, with all the resources of two Ministries helping me."

The Malfoy meeting broke up after about an hour. As Lucius was about to be led off to his cell by the aurors, Dad pulled him aside, to get him to write a note to his estate manager. As Lucius finished and turned to go, he said to Narcissa, "how can I get in touch with you, if I need to reach you?"

"It's best for now that you not know where I am. If you need to get a message to me, give it to Minister Weasley. That would also be the best route for contacting Draco. Goodbye Lucius."

I couldn't fail to notice that while the Malfoys seemed reasonably pleased by their meeting, Hermione was unable to pretend that she was not incredibly angry. Lucius's smiles toward his family and my Dad briefly faded to a glaring scowl, as he shot a parting look at Hermione, just as he left the room.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen – The Tribulations of the Muggle Born**

"What's the matter?" I whispered to Hermione.

"Later. I. Can't. Speak. Of. It. Now," was hissed back at me.

I touched Harry's wrist {[confusion, satisfaction replaced by concern] I know. I feel it too. Something isn't right between Hermione and Lucius. I've seldom seen her this angry. Your brother looks anxious.}

Somehow, Dad and the others hadn't noticed Hermione's mood. We said goodbye to Dad and traveled down to the Entry Hall to apparate our guests back to their lodgings. Harry, Ron, and I took Narcissa back to Grimmauld Place and were about to immediately return to Hogwarts, when Bill gave Harry a sealed envelope. "This is the most interesting stuff that I could think of," Bill said. Harry thanked him and then, we were gone.

When we returned to Hogwarts, we found that the others were waiting for us, in the shade of a big tree near the gate. We all wanted to chat among ourselves, before encountering McGonagall. She would be certain to corral us as soon as we entered the castle, hungry as she was for any news about the Malfoys. I wanted to hear the news, from Hermione's perspective. I couldn't delay any longer.

"I can tell that you are very angry. What happened in the conference room?"

"I lost it and confronted Lucius with the enormity of his crimes. His unconcerned joy at his reunion with his family and his dreams of a quick return to normalcy were just too much for me. I told him that he supported to the end a Thicknesse government that hunted down and killed hundreds of innocent people, who had no thought of opposing the government, for no reason other than that their parents were Muggles. I asked him how he could fail to feel the weight of such a monstrous crime."

"My father seems unable to take responsibility for what his Death Eater friends have done," Draco explained. "Rather than showing any real remorse, he treated Hermione's comment as a rude interruption of our reunion. He told Hermione that of course he was sorry and would undo those actions if he was able, but obviously he couldn't alter the past. He said that our family reunion was neither the time nor the place to discuss it and that it was rather indecent for her to have done so.

"He did say that most of those Muggle-born were imprisoned rather than killed, while Thickness tried to decide how to deal with them. Those lucky ones were freed when Voldamort was defeated. I don't know how he could refer to those poor, terrified people as lucky. Some were imprisoned for months, and I know that the guards didn't treat them well.

"At the end, Dad did make a more convincing apology for the several dozen Muggle-born who were not so lucky, but said that was not his doing, that really none of that was his doing. Then he made the mistake of repeating that this really was not the time to discuss this. This was family time for him. My father has always been very skilled at walling off the various parts of his life. That is just another reason that I can't trust him."

There wasn't much any of us could say which could possibly rise to the level of an adequate response. Finally, after a very long silence, Ron ventured "it wasn't fair for Dad to involve you in that. It is still far too painful for you."

"Not his fault, Ron. The meeting didn't have to be about that. I couldn't help making it about that. The past year has been very painful for all of us. I identify with the persecuted Muggle-borns, but my grief and anger can't compare to how your family must feel about losing Fred. I tried to be a neutral mediator. I don't even remember what Lucius said that set me off so drastically. It's as if I became totally irrationally..."

"He said," Draco interrupted her, "that my mother should realize that things didn't end too badly and that our kind would eventually come out on top, where we belonged. He said that at least our whole family was still alive and Voldemort wouldn't be able to torment us again."

"That would do it," I replied. "I can't feel for Lucius's torment any more than Hermione can. Nor can I forgive him. Lucius as victim? It's obscene!"

"I honestly don't expect you to forgive him," Draco answered quietly. "Father hated all of you. It is only reasonable that you hate him back. I hate knowing that he assumes that I will be just like him."

What else could be said? We were badly in need of a change of topic.

Harry asked George about the condition of his shop, and George replied "The shop is all fixed, but Lee is still reorganizing the shelves. The only problem is that having spent a fair amount on the repairs, we need a good back-to-school season, and it's going to be hard to produce enough inventory in time. We may not have the Ron Weasley howler alarm ready in time, unless I stay at the shop and help Lee." This produced a scowl and a growl from Ron. Luna and I smoothed that over and the back and forth discussion seemed largely to restore Hermione's emotional equilibrium. At least she was not smoldering.

Still, my heart skipped a beat, when George asked Draco whether he intended to speak to his father again. "Not just yet," Draco answered. "He has a lot to make amends for and needs to be less arrogant. Hermione read him correctly."

Hermione was calmed enough to venture, "Your mother was sensitive enough to take my side of the argument with your father. I believe she saw him in a less than positive light. Still, I thought your parents ended the meeting on better terms than they began. There is certainly far more tension than love between them. They both seem willing to follow the rules in order to get your family back together again. I sense that Narcissa agrees with the rules, but Lucius just feels as though he has no choice but to follow them, for now."

"I wouldn't have said there was any love at all, but they are tolerating each other more readily," Draco answered in a dispirited voice. "They were never super lovey-dovey, but I've not seen them this bad. Dad wants me and his manor back, but I think he'll take Mom back only if that is the condition for getting the other two. I am right to try to protect my mother. Father won't. She still seemed fragile, though not as bad as during the past year. I think I am going to need to meet with them some more, although it's not something I'm looking forward to.

"I'm the only thing they agree on, so I'm the only one with a chance of keeping them together. I don't even know if that's the right thing to do. I was surprised that the Minister made you our chaperone. You're not known for your fighting skills. I can't help but think that you were the Minister's thumb in my father's eye. Everyone knows he's had a special dislike for you. That may be part of the reason why he acted so badly."

"I think that's true," Hermione replied in a subdued voice. "It wasn't a job that I either sought or enjoyed. Protecting a Death Eater moll from her husband isn't my strong suit."

"What's a Death Eater moll?" Ron asked.

"It's a term I made up, based on Muggle gangster thrillers that I read. I meant it to mean the girl friend or wife of a Death Eater, who isn't very into the Death Eater stuff, but has to share the same risk and community disapproval as the Death Eater, himself. It's a fragile, powerless position to be in."

"I'm always amazed at how much you've read," I complimented Hermione, although she didn't seem to accept it that way.

"Well, I am a really fast reader. Plus, I had a lot of time to do little but read, during my summers away from Hogwarts. You all know how difficult it can be for a Muggle-born Witch to fit into Hogwarts and Wizard society. Let me tell you, it's even harder to fit back into the Muggle world, after you've spent a couple years at Hogwarts. I guess I was gone long enough that I seemed a stranger, and perhaps I had changed, but the few friends whom I had before Hogwarts made it clear during my second summer back that they didn't want to spend any time with me. They were pleasant and said hello, like long lost friends, but after that first meeting, our time together was very strained. I haven't seen any of them since that second week of my second summer break.

"That's why I'm so glad that my parents will be at Hogwarts this year. I've had less and less to talk to them about. None of you can imagine how difficult this has been for them. The Dursleys were happy to have Harry gone, but my parents missed me terribly at first and then thought they had lost me for good. They just didn't understand this world and I think were seeing me as too different. At times, I'm sure they thought I was lying or even crazy. Ministry rules didn't permit me to demonstrate any of my magical skills for them. It was just extremely difficult. I don't think Professor McGonagall realizes what a strain it is for us Muggle-born students to have our parents totally divorced from the school. A parents' day to be able to actually see kids flying on brooms and watch me perform transfigurations might have made all the difference. I spoke to other Muggle-born class-mates over the years. We all felt the same awful strain. Hogwarts is VERY cruel to the Muggle-born, and not just because of the bullying. You can't imagine how many times I wondered how much better off my life would have been had Dumbledore never shown up on my doorstep."

"I don't understand," Harry told her. "I know lots of Muggle-borns. I'm Muggle-born. This is the first time I'm hearing this, from anybody."

"You wouldn't hear it, would you. You came to Hogwarts as the famous Harry Potter. You had the famous Wizard parents. Your mother was Muggle-born, you weren't. To the Muggle-born, well, let's just say you would never be considered one of them. You fit in here and were accepted more than the Muggle-borns. You weren't trying to stay linked to a family that could never hope to share or even understand this world. It just isn't the same.

"When I look back, there are a lot of painful memories. I tried keeping up with Muggle math and science, mainly to keep my parents happy, but it was never the same as before I left for Hogwarts. That made me sad, so I read more to escape my sadness. When I read, I leave all my troubles behind. It may be because I can read so fast, but it's easy for me to get lost in the world of whatever book I'm reading. I think that's one way I adapted to Wizarding life. I read a lot of Hogwarts books and general Wizard history studies that first year and thought of them the same way as when I read a good science fiction series. I was able to totally enmesh myself in this interesting new world.

"After your first year here, Harry, you always viewed coming to Hogwarts as returning to your parents' world – to your real world. This was an escape from your prison. This was never my parents' world. I was leaving a loving family when I came here. You had Dumbledore as your protector and guide and your parents' galleons to fall back on. Most Muggle-born come here with nothing. Unlike the Wizard-born, they don't have a family farm or business to slide into. Coming to Hogwarts was scary, graduating Hogwarts into an unknown world with no support is even scarier. I had you and the Weasleys to lean on. Dumbledore helped me. I was the best student in our class. Imagine what life is like for an average, anonymous Muggle-born kid at Hogwarts. It's pretty ugly."

All I could say was "oh." I could tell that Harry was both moved by Hermione's description as well as inspired to make the situation better for future Muggle-borns.

It was time to leave the shelter of our tree and check in with the headmaster. We found Pansy waiting for us in McGonagall's office. McGonagall wanted a detailed description of the Malfoy reunion. "How was your meeting with your parents, Draco?" Pansy perked up and leaned forward, the better to hear Draco's report just that little bit sooner.

"It was okay. My father apologized for how he treated Pansy and for hiring Slytherins to spy on me. He said he still couldn't approve of Pansy, but that he recognized that I was going to do whatever it was that I decided to do and that he was hardly in a position to stop me. I think he genuinely does want to get the family back together again, but he and mother were barely civil during the meeting. He told me that if he doesn't get out of jail soon, I'm going to have to take some time to tend to the family finances. Mother said that was too dangerous for now and father would just have to behave himself and get out of jail as quickly as he could. It was good to see them again, but it was also good to get away from them again".

Initially rejecting Draco's and Hermione's attempts to leave her with this heavily redacted version, she received a slightly more detailed version. They still left quite a lot out, saying nothing more than that Lucius and Hermione had really not gotten along, but McGonagall was satisfied.

When she looked as though she was preparing to resume her interrogation of Draco, I hastened to change the subject. "I was just thinking about Professor Slughorn's campaign and how convenient it has been to us. The Minister was wondering who might have urged him to run, and your name immediately popped into my head."

"I merely mentioned something that I thought might appeal to Professor Slughorn's appetite for the limelight. He thought it a grand opportunity and has planned the campaign entirely on his own. I just hope he doesn't collect too many votes. I imagine that a Harpy might be a big vote getter. That choice was his, not mine."

While I was listening to Professor McGonagall, Harry was slitting open his note from Bill, helping himself to Professor McGonagall's letter opener. "Minister Weasley wants me to run for Deputy Minister if Minister Shacklebolt doesn't recover in the next two days," Harry announced, without looking up from his note. "I told him that Hermione would be a far better choice."

"Either of you would make a daft choice," Draco piped in, craning his neck to try to see what Harry was reading.

"I leave most of the politics to the Ministers," McGonagall responded to both of them, "but I've already mentioned the problems student candidates are likely to encounter."

As that discussion seemed at an end, Harry interjected, "a source has given me a reading on the reliability of the remaining aurors. Three are listed as suspect, twenty as definitely reliable, twenty as probably reliable, and fifteen as unknown. None of the suspect aurors are here at Hogwarts or assigned to guard either Minister. Where's Viktor, by the way?"

"Viktor wanted to visit Diagon Alley before returning to Hogwarts," Hermione replied. "He can only stay in Britain a few more days and wanted to see a bit more, before returning home. That doesn't give me much time to find a wife for him. I did arrange for him to take Cho out to dinner. I know some boys find her totally irresistible. I'll be interested to see how that works out.

"But what I really wanted to tell you about was how well Mom did with her new wand. When we talked to the press, Luna's Dad said we told a fine story, but that his readers wanted to see how much magic Mom was really able to perform. She was able to lift me three feet of the ground, hold me there for a ten count, and gently lower me back down. She couldn't do that nearly as well with the borrowed wand. The reporters were really impressed. She also did a really good 'lumos' and an 'expelliarmus' that threw Mr. Lovegood's quill pen halfway across the room. I don't think they'll be doubting our story now. It will certainly give some more fuel to Professor Slughorn's campaign to open up the historical secrets about the handling of Squibs."

Harry spluttered a little about the degree of publicity that Hermione's Mom was receiving not being strictly consistent with the confidentiality that we had pledged on the Squib investigation. Hermione replied "nonsense, we couldn't promise on behalf of the Squibs that they would keep silent when they learned of their status. That would just be asking them to hide away out of sight for a second time, and make them think of themselves as great embarrassments to the Wizarding world. Besides, other than my Mom and me, there are no remaining living Blacks to be embarrassed. If Dr. Sprout has anything negative to say about it, I suggest you repeat what I just said."

"I'll do that", Harry agreed, "and again, I apologize. I see your point about the immorality of suggesting that your mother should stay low key to avoid controversy. That was insensitive of me."

Back in the common room, Hermione dialed Dad on the cell phone, so that Harry could read Bill's critique of the aurors to him, and then pulled one of what Ron had taken to calling "Muggle studies books" out of her robes and curled up in a chair to read. I went over to her chair to find out what it was, not expecting Hermione to be reading one of the Muggle romances that the boys had found in the Ministry library. "It's a best seller by an American author. It's called the Da Vinci Code and it's really very interesting. Mom had it in her purse, when we brought her back from Australia. It's about a Professor who is trying to solve a mystery almost as interesting as the ones we're trying to solve, and he's running into almost as much danger. He also had to flee from corrupt French officers in the Louvre, just as we did. I'm thinking there may be a more significant parallel, but I'm going to ponder it a while longer and do a little research, before I make a fool of myself."


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen – The Lovegood/Slughorn Crusade Continues**

There had been so much focus on family drama that I simply yearned to cling to Harry. We had been sleeping in the dorm rooms, with Mom in attendance, so I had to dream up a plausible reason for us to once again keep watch over the Marauder's map and sleep together in the common room. This wasn't entirely selfish; I knew that this change of sleeping arrangement would also benefit Hermione, in her present state of mind.

"I think with all the Malfoy drama today, that we need to be on the watch for Narcissa trying to sneak into Hogwarts tonight," I announced to the room in general, when I was quite sure that Mom was close enough to hear me.

"I really think we should," Ron supported me. "There is something distinctly strange about that woman."

Harry touched my shoulder {[intrigued and beginning to get excited] I see where you're going with this and I agree. As a new professor, your Mom really ought to be getting her own apartment soon.}

"Well dear," agreed Mom pleasantly, "you know that Narcissa enjoys the headmaster's complete trust. If she wants to visit Hogwarts, she has only to ask. If you all feel it's necessary, I'm willing to do my share of map watching."

"I think it's very necessary, considering everything that happened today," Harry assured Mom.

Ron and Hermione took first watch. They almost spoiled things for all of us, as Mom had to remind them that they needed the map. Harry and I huddled in a corner, on top of a nice, soft quilt, with the invisibility cloak to conceal us. It was too warm to need a blanket. We had a very satisfactory snog and cuddle, although Harry seemed a little inhibited by Mom's presence. I realized that we had been so busy that I wasn't getting my necessary quota of snog. Harry still owed me another vacation away from Hogwarts this summer. I was in such a mellow mood of relaxed enjoyment, that I was startled to be tapped on the shoulder by Hermione and told "my turn, you've had your two hours."

I only looked at the map twice during our session of watch duty. As expected, there was nothing to see of any interest at all. I spent most of the time, back up against the wall, arm around Harry, soaking up his good vibes and watching Mom watching Ron and Hermione. She never even glanced at George and Luna. Mom came over and sat with us toward the end of our shift. Her shift was next, but she was concerned about us. "I know something happened, Ginny. What's the problem?"

"I just realized how really, really hard it has been for Hermione and her parents, for Hermione to move to our world." I explained how talking about Hermione's fight with Lucius, and thinking of all the murdered Muggle-borns, and hearing about how sad Hermione had been and how out of place she had felt in both worlds, had made me very, very sad. Mom gave me a long hug, saying only "I do understand. That's why I tried so hard to protect Harry and provide a Wizard family for him. Hermione didn't seem to need quite as much help, but I did my best for her, also."

A new day brought a hearty breakfast and more newspapers featuring us. The Quibbler took its normal 'no prisoners' approach to reportage:

**IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A MUGGLE-BORN WIZARD?**

**LEADER OF SOCIETY TO AID SQUIBS LEADS PERSECUTION OF WIZARD-BORN WITCH**

**GREAT FAMILIES RAIL AGAINST RIGHTS FOR THEIR OWN GRANDCHILDREN**

The article gave an accounting of the mistreatment of Hermione's mother and Hermione herself at the hands of those whom Mr. Lovegood dubbed the 'aristocrats' cabal', Wizards Montaigne/Malfoy/Brown/Sprout and the scions of the Great Families. He portrayed the entire work of St. Mungo's and the New Start Society as interested in little more than covering up for Great Family illegitimate offspring and stolen inheritances. He stated that the Office of Magical Law Enforcement was actively investigating dozens of violations of the laws governing the treatment of squibs, and that St. Mungo's had committed serious legal violations in return for monetary donations from the Great Families. Future stories would discuss how a prerequisite for appointment to Director of St. Mungo's was support of the legal violations of the Great Families and willing participation in the violation of the rights of the unwanted children.

Dr. Sprout was quoted as saying, "Mistakes were made in the past. Dr. Brown was not always concerned with the legal formalities. I got off to a bad start my first few years following the operating procedures taught to me by Dr. Brown. Since that time, I have scrupulously followed the law and run a very clean program. I do not feel undue pressure from any of the families that have been served by this program and am fully capable and determined to stand up to any pressure that might be applied to me." He later commented that "it is true that certain families have made very generous donations to St. Mungo's, but this money was put to good use to research better magical treatment of illnesses and has had absolutely no influence over how I run the hospital or the program in question." When questioned why he and his assistant had tried to stop the attending doctor from removing the illegally-applied confundus spell on the magically-endowed Mrs. Granger, he replied, "I did not realize that she had magical abilities. My assistant did not explain the full details of the case to me. Besides, I thought I had an agreement with the Minister that all of this was to remain confidential."

Reminded that he also had objected after the confundus was removed and there was clear evidence that Mrs. Granger had been illegally confunded and had at least some magical abilities, he responded "I objected because these cases are tricky and I didn't think the doctor in question was as qualified as I was to deal with the case. All such cases are to be handled by me and that is what my assistant told the Minister. You are treading in highly confidential territory and I demand to know how you learned of this. I think you are in violation of half a dozen laws, simply by repeating what you know."

Mr. Lovegood concluded by interpreting this last comment as an admission that St. Mungo's procedures were tailored to cover up past misdeeds. The rest of the story was a detailed account of the Granger family press conference. It featured a moving photograph showing Hermione being levitated and lowered to the ground and a second showing the flight of Mr. Lovegood's pen. The text was rich in indignation, detailing the insults that Hermione had suffered from the Malfoy family and Slytherins in general. Hermione spoke of the many times she was nearly reduced to tears as a First Year by the taunts of Mud Blood from her Slytherin classmates. The story told of Hermione's role in the vanquishing of Voldemort and the role of these same Slytherins in supporting him. It concluded by wondering why "if the governors of The New Start Society are so interested in caring for the squibs that they have placed in the Muggle world, they have done nothing for the children of these squibs. In fact, Lucius Malfoy and the others have led the persecution of the children, like Hermione, whom they knew full well had at least one Wizard parent. For all we know, some of these so-called Mud Bloods are Lucius's own offspring. The man has never been noted for his sense of marital fidelity."

The continuation of the article featured Mr. Lovegood's speculation that "it appears that most of the Muggle-born Wizards that we see entering Hogwarts are actually the offspring of the unwanted children of our aristocrats, who have been dumped into the Muggle world, and their offspring forgotten by their own grandparents. So, when these Great Family members utter their Mud Blood expletives, the intelligent observer should know that they are taunting their own relations."

The back cover blazoned:

**BRUCE MONTAIGNE FLED BRITAIN TO ESCAPE CHARGES OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT - NOW HE SEEKS TO LEAD THE MINISTRY THAT COVERED UP HIS CRIME**

**EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH MONTAIGNE'S VICTIM**

Mr. Lovegood was proving himself to be an excellent reporter. He had already tracked down the Malfoy estate manager and secured permission to interview him in custody. That man repeated the charge that he had made to the Ministry many years ago: "Bruce Montaigne placed me under an Imperius Curse and forced me to engage in sexual activity with him, which I never would have agreed to if in control of my own mind. I was examined at St. Mungo's and the doctor found traces of the Imperius Curse. Faced with the Montaigne lawyers, the aurors had hemmed and hawed, finally suggesting that I accept a financial settlement. It seemed as though I had no choice, so I accepted 50 galleons, a promise of lifetime employment from the Malfoys, and a verbal apology from Bruce and his father. I think Bruce got off very easy. The whole thing interfered with my education so much that the Montaignes paid for a private tutor over two summers to get me back on track. I signed an agreement to drop charges. I didn't want to, but I was just a poor boy and the lawyers said it was best for everyone."

Mr. Lovegood concluded by saying that most of the records from the Ministry related to Bruce's arrest "appear to have vanished, magically."

The Daily Prophet gave a much more subdued account of the same events, stressing that it did no good to jump to conclusions about St. Mungo's, Dr. Sprout, or the Montaignes, who were among the very best regarded of Wizarding families.

The rest of breakfast was spent with Hermione trying to pump Viktor for news of his dinner with Cho. Viktor dodged the questions for a while, but then seemed to realize that Hermione was just not going to give up. He finally replied, "Cho is very nice, very intelligent girl, not as pushy as you. I will see her again before I go home. Happy?"

Hermione was a little taken aback by this and mumbled a reply, which sounded like "excuse me, just trying to help." Viktor showed her some mercy and moved right along to the news highlight from Cho: "the Montaignes have removed a large amount of gold galleons from the bank and also from their Muggle funds in Gringotts' branch in the Muggle banking system. They requested that most of it be transferred to a Muggle bank account in Zurich. I have the number of that account. Cho says Bruce made the visit to the bank accompanied by a Lord Montaigne who definitely was not his father. Cho let the transaction go through to give us a chance to take advantage of the knowledge." Viktor beamed as he passed a folded slip of paper to Harry.

When we returned to the Gryffindor common room, Harry read the contents of the slip to us:

Zuercher Bank

Account # 476876519

Transfer 37.5 million pounds sterling

Withdrawn and carried away – 20,000 gold galleons

"We have to make our own withdrawal from the Zuercher Bank, before all that money is put to a bad use," George suggested. "I wonder if there really are gnomes in the Zurich banks, and whether they would recognize me as the fellow who tormented the garden gnomes in Mom's garden. And, Hermione, you suggested last night that you had figured out a secret regarding Bruce."

"I said I had an inkling from the book that I was reading. While the rest of you go and talk to Professor McGonagall, Ron and I will go visit the Minister and fill him in. I have a little work to do in the Ministry library, before I'm willing to discuss my theory."

Ron looked surprised, but followed Hermione as they set off for the disapparation spot inside the fence. The rest of us followed Hermione's 'suggestion' and went in search of Professor McGonagall. We caught her in her office. She agreed that the movement of that much money suggested that something nasty was afoot. She was intrigued with our suggestion of another bank heist, but said we would have to work through Monsieur Delacour and the Paris Ministry, to provide a bit of legal cover. Viktor said he was quite willing to approve the plan, "anything to keep that money out of the hands of the Grindelwald supporters. They may well be planning to buy off the remaining Giants or some more Goblins."

Bill and Fleur apparated to France to apprise Monsieur Delacour of our planned heist and, hopefully, to secure his approval and offer of support.

The rest of the morning was spent in practice. Mom taught Hermione's Mom, as well as Mr. Filch, while I practiced a standard apparation response and 'petrificus totalis' with Harry. Everyone showed satisfactory improvement. We did not see Hermione or Ron at lunch and went back to the common room to study. Mrs. Granger's dedication to reading through the textbooks that Hermione had given her was very impressive. From time to time she would ask questions of Harry. The few that Harry couldn't answer, I answered, causing Harry to respond, "I should have remembered that." Which caused me to respond "you and Ron goofed off so much, I don't think you ever learned that well enough to forget it."

It was almost supper time when Ron and Hermione returned. "I think my theory was correct," were the first words spoken. "Mom's book has a very important French family, named the St. Clairs, who are prominent in keeping the secret of the Holy Grail. A line of that family moves to Scotland and renamed themselves the Sinclairs. They are a leading Scottish family and still carrying on the family duty of protecting the Grail. That got me thinking about the Montaignes and the similarity of that name to the Gran Montines. My library research confirms that the younger brother of THE Gunter Gran Montine moved to Scotland and established a branch of the clan, which survived after the Continental branch was wiped out in intra-Wizard and Goblin fighting.

"They called themselves the Montaignes and went on to use their magical powers to win a British Lordship. I then thought back to the line in the prophecy that we must "identify and conquer the underground mountain". It just came to me that 'the underground mountain' is just a mondegreen that was misinterpreted by Professor McGonagall. What Professor Trelawney was really referring to was 'Gunter Gran Montine', the leader of the Grindelwald group. I am quite confident in suggesting to you that our friend Bruce Montaigne calls himself after his distant relative Gunter Gran Montine, in his role as the secret leader of the Grindelwald faction. That explains the picture of Bruce with Meier Hyack and Bron Turner. It was a strategy session. Bron now has his orders for his next act of treachery and the three of them were likely discussing a plan that is to be paid for by all that money Bruce took out of the Goblin bank."

"As Dad would say, highly suggestive, but not definitive," mimicked George. "It makes it all that more important that we pull off our bank heist. We'll need Polyjuice to pull it off, and Cho will have to fill us in on the details of how the Goblins are detecting that particular trick."

"There's just one problem with that plan," Hermione criticized. "We don't have any hairs from the Montaignes to add to the brew."

"Well," Harry proudly announced, "I do have a Lord Montaigne hair from my last visit, and before you ask, I made very sure that it is not a dog hair. Since we need some Bruce hair, I suggest that we pay another visit to the Montaigne estate. I think if I announce that I've seen evidence that my Muggle aunt and her son are the rightful owners of the estate, they will have to agree to see me. We could even meet in Hogsmeade instead of on the estate, if you think that would be safer."

"I think a meeting is called for, and Honeydukes is the place of choice," Hermione responded, "but the important thing is to get the Montaignes to issue the invitation. I think a quick visit to Luna's father is in order. To that end, I brought back with me from the Ministry copies of what documentation exists on the birth, confunding, adoption, life, and death of Harry's grandfather. The Quibbler should be able to spin a very interesting tale from these documents."

Luna was beaming as she led us to the disapparation point and clasped hands with us for the trip to her home. We found her Dad in his rebuilt office, writing copy for the morning paper. "Daddy," Luna said, "we have a story that we'd like you to write."

"It has to be a very good story to bump aside what I'm working on. There's been another bombing in Diagon Alley, this time at the entry door of Gringott's bank. It blew the door right off. One Goblin was injured by flying debris. This time a bomber was observed planting the bomb and leaving just before it exploded. It was that Death Eater Rowle. It was fortunate his face is familiar, because the few Wizards near the bank ran away as soon as he was spotted. Bruce Montaigne already has a statement out saying this attack proves, to quote the blaggart 'that Arthur Weasley is simply too weak a Minister to protect the businesses in Diagon Alley. The choice is clear. Elect me and I'll put a stop to this thuggery'. I'm as sure that he can stop it as I am sure that he is behind it."

"When did this happen?" Harry asked.

"A little over two hours ago," was Mr. Lovegood's response. I could tell that Harry was fuming and touched his shoulder, appearing as if I was trying to calm him.

{[anger] Shacklebolt and your father promised to keep us in the loop as well as McGonagall. Your Dad could have contacted us while we were in McGonagall's office. I guess we should press on with our business here and then have Hermione phone the Ministry}. "Why don't you show your father what we have, Luna?" is all Harry said openly.

Luna spread the documentation in front of her father, and his excitement rose with each new document that he perused. "This will make a great story," he declared. "I'll set up a meeting with young Bruce and Dr. Sprout."

"Ask him to meet us in Honeydukes in two hours," Harry suggested. "I'll join you there. Be wary of an ambush. On second thought, I think it best that you apparate to Hogwarts. Luna can apparate you there. We have a secret route from the school into Honeydukes."

I was expecting us to all apparate back to Hogwarts, but Mr. Lovegood wanted to draft a story to present to the Montaignes and Doctor Sprout for comment. Luna decided to stay a little longer with her father. George decided to stay with them "in case another wand is needed." The rest of us said goodbye and returned to Hogwarts to further develop our strategy.

Break, break, break, blather, blather, blather

Okay, there is no Zuercher Bank in the non-Wizarding world. There are a couple of Zurich banks with Zurcher in the name, but that requires an umlaut over the u, which I doubt this software can handle. Besides, I'm a Zuercher myself, and so couldn't help making that slight name change, which also might make a couple big banks less unhappy.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen – A Quick Meeting in a Village Pub**

"You look as marvelously odd as I had hoped. Really, this was well worth the wait," Thicknesse greeted Barty. Barty was a middle aged Muggle woman, who looked like a sphere on legs. She was quite short, well under five feet, and what the Muggles called morbidly obese. She had fly-away hair and a strangely crooked nose. Thicknesse, on the other hand, had cast himself as a handsome, tall, well-muscled young man, with wavy hair the color of sand.

"Don't gloat; everyone in the bar is wondering why you chose to have a drink with me."

"Because you're my dear aunt, obviously. You've been busy since our last meeting. That bombing at Gringott's was just the thing. It was fine to tweak Weasley by bombing his son's shop, but striking a hallowed institution like Gringott's sends a much stronger message, I think. Nothing is safe from us and the present government can't even protect a heavily fortified bank equipped with Goblin security."

"Is it time to kill the Minister?"

"No, it's not! Things are going our way. Weasley is weak. My source in the Ministry says that he hasn't even mustered the courage to move into the Minister's office. He's still in his old office, with Prudence assisting him and Shacklebolt's Ministerial staff wondering what they can do to fill their days. He's liked, but not respected. I think that's the exact tone we're shooting for. I think Bruce might actually win. That would be a huge bonus. I've been planning the long game, focusing on the next Wizengamot election and when Weasley stand for re-election.

"It might do at some time for Shacklebolt to just pass beyond. I assume Dr. Sprout can arrange that for us."

"Possibly. The Minister has switched Shacklebolt's care to Doctor White. The aurors won't let Sprout near his bed. Still, he's resourceful. If you want the deed done, I have no doubt that he can arrange it."

"No rush on that. Shacklebolt is serving us fine. I hear that Weasley isn't even able to convince his daughter's boyfriend to run as his Deputy Minister. He really doesn't have many good choices left. I think McGonagall would be somebody to reckon with, but doubt Weasley has the wit to choose her. You'd do well to find what dirt you can on Potter and his friends, just in case. Check out McGonagall, too. Delores used to have files on all of them, but she foolishly kept them at the Ministry. Pity. I think our Australian venture was a dud. If something favorable was going to happen, we would have heard by now. Patience, Barty."

"It's my turn to set the next meeting. I think your favorite pub in Wales, exactly a week from now. Check your watch. Do you want to call a truce? We can select our hairs before we leave. How about those two young Muggle women at the bar?"

"That's fine Barty. I hope to have a pleasant surprise for you at our next meeting. How is your guest doing, by the way?"

"She's anxious to get into the fray. I'm not entirely sure that I trust her – she's almost too eager. I think she would most definitely kill for you. You have only to ask."

"Again with the restless urge to violence. We are going to have to be more clever and patient than that. I'll take my hair from the blond. Goodbye, Barty."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen – The Battle of Honeydukes and Family Secrets Revealed**

"The biggest tactical advantage we have is that we can be there first," Hermione strategized, "so we should get some of us over there right away. Two can be present visibly inside Honeydukes and two more can be shielded by them, while they hide under the invisibility cloak. We can use the Weasley cloak to hide a pair of lookouts outside the store. I suggest George and Ron go inside the shop as themselves, while Ginny and I hide under the cloak. Viktor and Neville can hide under the Weasley cloak outside the shop. A little before the meeting, Harry, Luna, and her Dad can arrive inside the store, coming up from the tunnel in the basement. Does everyone agree?"

"I can't think of a better plan," Harry replied. "We should give the cell phones to Neville and George, so that Neville can warn us of a trap. If we receive the warning, we all immediately apparate back to Hogwarts. I'll call the Minister to let him know what we're doing and that we'll phone if we need help from his aurors."

"That improves the plan," Hermione conceded. "I'll set up the phones. All you have to do is push this button to send the message. It will be quiet - I set the phone to just vibrate in your pocket. You can phone in either direction. If George sends the warning, the outside team should immediately apparate back to Hogwarts."

When Harry talked to Dad, he was more than a little sketchy on the details and it was clear that he didn't expect to need or want any help from the aurors. He did come very close to promising to provide "just the information that you've been looking for, Sir."

With agreement reached, we set off for Hogsmeade. We apparated from the Hogwarts wall to a point just outside Hogsmeade. I walked the rest of the distance, sharing Harry's cloak with Hermione. George and Viktor left us before we reached the shop, ducking behind a bush at a spot that gave them a good vantage point to see anyone approaching. Ron and George opened the door for us and cleared a path through the few customers over to a table in the corner. They sat at the outside seats, while Hermione and I sat side by side on the corner bench, concealed beneath the cloak.

It was a hot and boring wait, listening to George and Ron making small talk and renewing their feud over the Ron Weasley howlers, coupled with observations of the people coming into and leaving the store. If the Montaignes were planning a trick, it wasn't going to involve arriving early. We had sat under the cloak for a very long time, and received no warning from Neville, when I saw Harry, Luna, and Mr. Lovegood emerge from the basement. Harry and Mr. Lovegood took seats at the table farthest from us, while Luna meandered around the store, looking both innocent and bewildered in a way that only Luna can pull off successfully.

We were all on alert when Dr. Sprout, the two Montaignes, and another Wizard came into the shop. The Montaignes and Dr. Sprout pulled up chairs next to Harry and Mr. Lovegood, while their companion loitered nearby. I saw that Luna was keeping a watchful eye, and presumably a ready wand, fixed on the companion. Hermione and I had our wands directed at the Montaignes from under our cloak.

It was like watching a pantomime, and reminded me of the time that Harry and I spied on Mom, Professor McGonagall, and Umbridge as they argued beside Dumbledore's tomb. The meeting began on a fairly calm note, with Mr. Lovegood doing most of the talking, and Dr. Sprout making an occasional comment. Next, Mr. Lovegood handed out copies of his story, spreading the copies of his evidence on the table, for Dr. Sprout and Lord Montaigne to examine. We saw Lord Montaigne speaking. Then Dr. Sprout spoke in some agitation, before Harry started talking with a very calm, poised manner. Harry picked up the exhibits of evidence one by one and handed them to Sprout. He spread his hands in a placating manner, but something he had said appeared to have set off Bruce. He was now speaking with great animation and, it appeared, anger. There was a prolonged exchange of views between the Montaignes, with Harry and the others looking on. Lord Montaigne then turned to Harry and appeared to be speaking quite calmly, with Harry responding in kind. Dr. Sprout was shrugging his shoulders, spreading his palms and looking defeated as he addressed first Harry and then Lord Montaigne.

When he spoke to Bruce, Bruce's agitation again kicked up a notch and he was thrusting his right forefinger into Dr. Sprout's chest and shouting loudly enough that we could make out the words, "when you signed onto my ticket, that was a commitment unto death. You are not going to back out now. It would be too harmful to my campaign. You are just going to have to try to be a man and tough it out. You knew some of my background when you signed on. Don't act so shocked, you cowardly weasel. And as for you father, I'm merely doing what you should have done…" Lord Montaigne was speaking now, much quieter than his son, but his words had the effect of at least temporarily silencing Bruce. Mr. Lovegood said something, which stopped Lord Montaigne, giving his son an opening to shout louder than the first time, "if that's the way you want it, father!" Then, Bruce was pulling his wand, Harry was shouting 'protego', Mr. Lovegood and Lord Montaigne were diving behind the table, the Lord's bodyguard was stepping forward and instantly being dropped in his tracks, and Bruce had vanished.

Luna shouted "Got you, suckah!" and strode over to look down at her prey. I saw that either Hermione or I had petrified Doctor Sprout. I sprinted over to Harry's table, my wand pointed at the nose of Lord Montaigne. I got as far as "petrificus to…" when his empty hands shot up above his head and he gave me a defeated look. I cut my curse short and lowered my wand, even helping the Lord to his feet, as Harry was giving a hand up to Luna's Dad. "I don't know whether I hit Bruce or not," Hermione declared. "I was at 'petrificus total…" when he vanished.

"I don't think Bruce would really have harmed me," Lord Montaigne was saying to Harry. "I'm grateful that you chose to use a protective spell, rather than attack him. I had thought he was improving, but his old mental instabilities appear to still be with him. I should have monitored him more closely after he left home. I hope you haven't seriously harmed Rodrick: he was here to protect me, not Bruce. He wouldn't have been much help, anyway. I can hardly believe how many of you there are.

"I'm willing to continue our conversation. I accept the need for the restitution that Dr. Sprout and Lucius spoke to you about, earlier. We have not been delaying, merely getting our thoughts together. I'm sure Dr. Sprout was as sincere as he says, although I can understand what a shock it would have been to you when he teamed up with my son to try to take control of the Ministry by means of election. I can see how that might have appeared to be a double cross."

Harry brushed my cheek with the back of his hand "{[embarrassed] If I had used 'petrificus' or even 'expelliarmus' we would have had Bruce, then and there. I could have had him minutes ago, if I hadn't taken the time to steal a hair. I was just stupid, or my brain locked up in the heat of the moment. [regret]}

It was then that I realized that we were surrounded by aurors and that Dad was starting to speak. "What's going on? I got Harry's call that you were going to meet with the leader of the Grindelwald faction, and then another call saying you were in a fight. Is this him on the floor?"

"No, he got away," Harry replied, sheepishly. "Actually, we were only after some of his hair, and we got that. I really don't know why I didn't think to just drop him. I wouldn't have needed any hair…"

I found I was picking up Harry's thoughts from three feet away.

[embarrassed] I was going to complain to your Dad about not informing us of the Gringotts' bombing, but I find myself caught red handed doing more free lancing than what your father did. At least I did phone, which should be good for a tiny bit of credit. I think it best we each ignore the whole thing [still embarrassed].

"That man is my bodyguard," Lord Montaigne announced. "He has nothing whatever to do with my son. He was here to protect me, but his attempts to protect me were misconstrued as an attack on Harry Potter. I hope he hasn't been seriously injured."

"Well, Harry," Dad said, out of hearing of anyone but Harry and me, "I know you're not happy not to have heard of the Gringotts' bombing and I'm guessing you realize how unhappy I am to stumble into the full extent of your current adventure and learn that we've missed a chance to arrest Bruce and break up the Grindelwald gang…. Don't interrupt! I realize that this meeting produced a lot of proof of Bruce's misdeeds and that he was not arrestable prior to this. Maybe he still isn't. Still, you should have told me much more about your plan, while it was still early enough for me to help. It should have been a joint plan. We both need to communicate better. The Minister and Deputy Minister have to work as a team… Don't even try to interrupt! Even Harry Potter as a private citizen has an obligation to work with the Ministry. I gave you the evidence that you needed to hold this meeting and you cut me out of it."

"I apologize," Harry replied. "I could argue that we didn't want to involve you in something that could be interpreted as being overly political, or that I phoned you, or that we didn't really expect to accomplish much beyond collecting one of Bruce's hairs, but in truth, our group has gotten too much into the habit of working alone."

"I'll accept your apology, if you agree to keep me informed in the future. I will make an effort to keep you up to speed, as well."

"I promise, Sir."

"Fine, let's do better and forget this happened. At least now we know for certain whom our opponent is and he is placed in the position of not being able to both escape us and continue running for Minister."

{[guilty] I feel really bad about this. Your Dad has treated us very well and let us in on a lot of things. I had no reason to treat him as I would have treated Fudge or Scrimgouer.}

We noticed that Luna had removed her 'petrificus totalis' spell and Lord Montaigne's bodyguard had slowly and unsteadily gotten back to his feet. Lord Montaigne motioned him to wait outside.

"I'm sorry, Arthur," Lord Montaigne explained. "I fear that my son Bruce has been directing the Grindelwald attacks on the magical schools on the Continent, and that he has funded the whole Grindelwald operation with money he stole from the Muggles through financial scams. He has this mad dream to follow his distant ancestor and rule over all of the Wizarding world. He is a very intelligent boy, but given to fantasies. He always had his little eccentricities, but he became strange during his sixth year at Hogwarts. I blame Dumbledore's influence; he just didn't handle Bruce in an appropriate…"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, "Harry interjected, "but we have to get moving before Bruce can get the money out of his Zurich bank account to finance more troubles in France. I got some of his hair so that Hermione can prepare a polyjuice potion. I thought we'd get to the bank ahead of him, but that may no longer be possible." Harry handed the hairs to Hermione, who got right to work.

"You don't need to rob the bank," said Lord Montaigne. "I'll help you willingly."

"The Polyjuice is brewing," Hermione announced. "I think we should all set off for the Delacours' house."

"I don't think they'll be happy to entertain this many guests. They're a little apparation shy," I cautioned.

"We'll just go and let them know that we're ready to get together," Luna replied, looking at George.

Minutes later, they returned. "We are to go to the Reception Hall of the French Ministry. They will be expecting us in exactly four minutes," George instructed.

All of us, including Dad, Lord Montaigne, and a handful of aurors, linked arms and were gone. French aurors awaited us, but they kept their wands down and so did we. Monsieur Delacour saw Dad in the lead and came forward to greet him.

Harry took the lead in explaining to Monsieur Delacour, "We've learned that Bruce Montaigne is Gunter Gran Montine, the leader of the Grindelwald faction. He is on his way to Zurich to withdraw enough money to heat up the French Wizarding wars again. This is his father, Lord Montaigne, who has offered to help us get the money from the bank, before Bruce gets there."

While Harry was talking, Hermione passed him the Polyjuice to drink, but Harry handed it on to George, who downed it without stopping for breath. Harry barely paused in his comments, "we need to be apparated to the Zuercher Bank and we need legal cover from you and the French."

"Yes, Bill and Fleur already explained much of this to me. I've already talked to the French authorities and they've contacted the Swiss. I just sent a man to the French authorities to let him know that we're moving immediately," Monsieur Delacour replied. "They already view Bruce as a criminal, but haven't had enough evidence to arrest him. I don't think they'll object to your plan, especially since you have Lord Montaigne with you. Francois will transport you to the bank. I have more details to arrange here."

Break, break, break

Not every battle in a war is a really big deal. What can you expect for a battle in a sweet shop.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen - - The Battle of the Zuercher Bank**

We linked arms with Francois and after some tumbling and queasiness caused by two too-quick apparations, found ourselves on the street near the bank. Fortunately the bank was already closed for the day, so there was no way that Bruce could have beaten us there. We had forgotten the time difference. There was no alternative but to stake out the bank and make sure that we got in before Bruce did the following morning.

We all set off for a restaurant that Francois recommended as 'really very nice." Dad said he had best return to the Ministry, and departed with one of his aurors, after saying to Harry, "tomorrow is decision day for you, Harry. You need to return from France with your answer. You are really quite as adept as Shacklebolt in going off on your own and getting into mischief, and I don't mean that as a compliment. I'll speak with you tomorrow. Come to the Ministry as early as you can. I'll be waiting for you. Goodbye all."

The restaurant was, indeed, quite fine. As we ate and drank a very good French red wine, Mr. Lovegood explained the pantomime which we had all observed. "I told Lord Montaigne and Bruce that I had conclusive proof that Lord Montaigne was the second son, and that he had an older brother who was the rightful heir to the estate. I showed the documentation from St. Mungo's of the confunding procedure, with the lack of documentation that any valid testing for magical ability had been performed or that the informed consent of the child had been obtained before the procedure was performed. Dr. Sprout admitted that Doctor Brown's procedures had been highly irregular when fulfilling the requests of the more prominent Great Families. I concluded that there was no way of knowing for certain whether or not Lord Montaigne had usurped the family inheritance under Wizard law, but that he clearly had usurped his title under British law, there being no requirement that a British Lord possess any magical abilities. I further informed him that the rightful heir was dead, as was one of his daughters, but that a second daughter survived, and that she had a son. I also told him that Harry Potter was the son of the dead daughter. A daughter killed by Voldemort. Of course, Lord Montaigne already knew almost all of that, although Bruce seemed a little surprised."

"I admitted that I had heard part of this tale from my father," Lord Montaigne agreed. "Lucius Malfoy had heard of it from his father and had discussed it with Dr. Sprout. He first tried to use this information to induce me to support Voldemort, but I refused. He has since tried to use it to convince me to arrange for my young daughter to marry Draco. I prefer to allow her to choose her own husband. I'm relieved to have this finally out in the open, although I am still hoping that much of it can remain secret, to minimize damage. I'm perfectly willing to provide restitution and to ensure that my son never inherits the estate. I'll see that it goes to my daughter. We'll have to think about what recompense to the Dursleys and Harry Potter is appropriate. If we succeed in recovering the money from the bank, I'll certainly contribute it to a fund to help the descendants of the children placed in the St. Mungo's program."

"What was said that set Bruce off so badly?" I asked Harry.

"I told Bruce that we knew he was not the true heir to the Montaigne fortune and estate and that, even if he were, he would find himself under arrest, rather than competing for Minister of Magic in the election, because we knew that he was the Gunter Gran Montine, who had organized a merciless assault on Beauxbatons, which caused so many dead. I said he was a coward, who didn't even participate in the actual battle that he had paid for. He said he was fulfilling his destiny to rule over all magical creatures and lead them to subdue the Muggles. His father told him that he was still insane and needed a keeper. Then when his father reminded him that he had a destiny and obligation under the Covenant, he went nuts."

"Excuse me for saying this, Lord Montaigne," I began, "but it seems strange that a Wizard who hates what you call the 'lesser magical creatures' as much as you do should be the one charged under the Covenant with the protection of the Unicorns and Centaurs."

"I suppose you think me a great bigot," he replied. "Really, I'm not. I'm regarded as a tolerant progressive among the members of the House of Lords. Being a Wizard, skin color really means nothing to me. It's not that I hate the other species of magical creatures, although the Giants always have and still do give me the creeps. Those statements you've seen are from many years ago when I, like Bruce today, was severely chafing under my obligations in the Covenant. Just like Harry, I was born with a destiny and a duty to all Wizards, or at least I assumed that destiny when my older brother was adopted out. I'm sure that Harry, just like me, sometimes saw his destiny as an intolerable burden that prevented him from leading a normal, happy life.

"It is not that I saw myself as superior to the Centaurs and Goblins, although I think we do all have a bit of an extra appreciation for our own kind, but rather that I rebelled against my subservience to the Goblins, Centaurs, and Unicorns. It is my family's land, but I'm charged with preserving it for the Centaurs and Unicorns. I am not allowed into the Sacred Cavern of the Goblins, which is under my own land, except by sufferance of the Goblin King, when he either summons me to make a request, for which read demand, or when I am admitted as a supplicant to beg a favor or seek his wisdom. I worship the Guardian of Light, which you may know as the Light Guardian or White Guardian, or the Egyptian God Ra. It is an ancient deity of Wizards. Yet, I am required by my Guardian to take prophetic and spiritual guidance from the Elf who speaks for the Keeper of the Universe, who serves the Goblins' Master deity, such that I am not really even allowed my own choice of deity.

"My inheritance gives me a very comfortable life and the semblance of power but, in reality, I am the servant of the other magical species. I exist to protect them.

"After Bruce graduated from Hogwarts, in a period of very slight mental agitation and a remarkable level of humility by his standards, I endeavored to explain that particular part of his inheritance and destiny. With the wealth and appearance of power comes the heavy burden of duty under the Covenant. I maintain the sanctuary within which the Unicorns and Centaurs read the direction of the Universe and keep it in balance. I am buffeted by the ego of the Centaur leader Bane, who knows no more of Centaur prophesy than I do, and the egomaniac Goblin King. It might have been better if my brother filled the role. It doesn't require any magical powers. The main job is keeping the Muggles at bay so that Hogwarts and the Sanctuary can survive, cajoling the Goblins to keep the source of magic humming along, and trying to keep the Wizard world and especially the Great Houses in some form of equilibrium. I realize that my father and I became forces for stasis in the Wizarding world, but we have had a tough enough time holding things together, without contending with great social or technological change. I'd be more than happy to share some of the responsibility with Harry.

"Bruce said I was stuck in a trap of my own making and the solution was to take over and dictate events, rather than respond to them. This Gran Montine thing was his rebellion. It was crazy and it further reduced the numbers of Wizards and Giants, pushing us ever closer to unsustainable numbers. What I tried to explain to him is that each magical species has a role to play. It is like a complex ecosystem, where the removal of one species inevitably dooms the others to a slow death. That was just too much orderliness and constraint for Bruce. He retreated into hedonism and dreams of being the King of Everything."

He stopped talking as dessert arrived and I found myself thinking of him as a sadder and more unfortunate man than I had expected him to be.

Harry cut right through the whiny philosophizing to the heart of the matter. "Bruce is likely going to show up first thing in the morning to collect his money, and our groups are going to meet. Assuming Bruce doesn't force his own death and that we are able to take him alive, what are we going to do with him? He's your son. You know what he's trying to do and how dangerous he is. What do you propose that we do with him?"

"Bruce never showed empathy for another living thing, so I'm not even sure you'll convince him that all of those dead Wizard children at Beauxbatons were more than a necessary collateral damage that stood in the way of his grand dream. He is dangerous because he has learned to use his Wizard skills in the Muggle world for more than minor larceny. We can strip him of the wealth that he used to fuel his movement, but he knows how to make more. He and Lucius Malfoy were perpetual money machines, although Lucius was not nearly as unethical as my son. I don't want him to be killed or to be driven more insane in Azkaban, always assuming the Dementors would still do the Ministry's bidding. I think the legalities must be followed. He must be tried and convicted, but he seems to me to be an excellent candidate for confunding. It's possible St. Mungo's can even cure him."

"Why is he so interested in the relics that Beauxbatons housed and why attack Durmstrang?" Hermione asked.

"Bruce always had his own way of seeing the world. He is looking through our own ancestral connections to what he sees as greater past days for Wizards and especially to the one ancestor, whom he views as the greatest Wizard of all time. Gunter Gran Montine was one of the early headmasters of Durmstrang. He used it as his base of power to seize control of the German/Swiss Ministry. That is why that Ministry is so weak today: Gunter basically dismantled it and ran its affairs from Durmstrang. The tradition of a weak Ministry was established. Bruce would see control of Durmstrang as both a superior base of power, and also as a powerful symbol. Given the weakness of the German Ministry, to control Durmstrang is to control the Ministry."

"Sounds like I'm more powerful than I realized," Viktor commented in true dumbfoundedness. "So, basically Bruce boy wants my head and believes that will give him control of Germany."

"As for Beauxbatons," Lord Montaigne continued as if the interruption had not occurred, "they got most of the Flamel papers. Bruce felt that Grindelwald and Flamel were the only Wizards worthy of study or emulation since Gran Montine. Although he was never a great student, Bruce thought there were great untapped secrets in Flamel's work. Also, for some reason that I never understood, Joan of Arc held a great intrigue for Bruce. If it is possible to have a crush on a dead historical figure, then in his early teens Bruce can be said to have had a crush on Joan. He had an illustrated picture book of her, which he took to bed with him."

"An obvious case of Gaunt-brain," Hermione declared, drawing a frown from the Lord.

I also was thinking that Bruce boy was even weirder than we thought, but my attention was drawn back to Lord Montaigne, who had continued talking "...issue at hand, I would like your word that you will do everything possible to avoid killing Bruce."

Our circle agreed as one. The British and French Ministry representatives mumbled something like "taking a suspect alive is always our preferred option, but we don't take unnecessary risks."

We loitered over coffee and cognac, realizing that what awaited us was a cold night on the streets. The restaurant closed a little after 1:00 A.M., and we made our way back to the bank. We were not alone. Monsieur Delacour had arrived with ten of his officers. Lord Montaigne reiterated his plea that Bruce not be killed if it was at all possible to take him alive. Monsieur Delacour readily agreed and instructed his men accordingly.

We agreed on where we would shelter from the night and roving eyes, in positions that gave us a good command of both the bank and watch points that Bruce's men might occupy before the bank's opening hours. Monsieur Delacour sent six of his men to the rooftops. I gave them one of the cell phones so that they could contact us if they saw anything suspicious.

Hermione had the other phone. I was thankful that we had the meager warmth of the invisibility cloak as Harry and I took our positions, nestled against the wall of the bank at the corner above the top step. The stones still held a little of the day's warmth and the sun's energy, but that would soon be gone. At least we could lean against the building for support, allowing us to doze and still stay completely covered by the cloak. Hermione and Ron were fortunate to have the other cloak and set up in front of a shop on the opposite side of the street. The rest of our group was out of sight in the doorways of buildings on the side streets. Hermione had the job of signaling if she got an alert from the men on the roof. Harry and I, as well as the nearest team on each side street, were responsible for watching for her signal, as well as scanning our surroundings.

It was quite cool by early morning and my muscles were very stiff, as I'm sure were everyone else's. I sympathized with those bereft of even a cloak to huddle under in an attempt to capture some shared bodily warmth, but in truth the cloak was of minimal benefit. Needing to stay alert, Harry and I spent the night practicing back and forth communication. When we were huddled right up against each other, hands clasped, Harry was able to detect most of what I tried to transmit. As I moved my body slightly apart from Harry, maintaining only a brushing hand-to-hand touch, he got almost nothing, even when I focused with all my energy.

Morning came and then the workers filed into the building. Soon a guard came to open the big metal front doors. Two minutes later Lord Montaigne and George, as Bruce, strode confidently across the street and up the front steps of the bank. We had seen no sign of Bruce or his gang. The rest of us maintained our guard positions, as 'the Montaignes' transacted their banking business. They had been inside the bank nearly five minutes, when we noticed half a dozen men apparate at spots spaced along the street. I saw the signal from Hermione. None of the men appeared to be Bruce. As they all strolled closer to the bank, in a seemingly uncoordinated manner, as if they didn't even notice the existence of their cohorts, it became very clear that Bruce was not among them. The two groups of three men each were still walking towards each other and had closed to about twenty feet apart, when four more men apparated between them. I recognized Bruce as the man in the center. The four newcomers headed for the bank as the other six assumed a protective cordon around the base of the stairs. Several of our Wizards had begun to amble out of the side street. Just at that moment, our 'Montaignes' emerged from the front door of the bank. At first, stunned at the sight of himself leaving the bank, Bruce froze, but quickly caught on, yelling, "Father! What are you doing here? Don't spoil my plans!" I was concerned that our help was too far away, but had momentarily forgotten apparation, as aurors began to appear behind Bruce's men.

As Bruce and his companions drew their wands and charged up the stairs at his father, Harry fired a 'protego' spell to defend our 'Montaignes', while I hit the nearest of Bruce's bodyguards with a bat-bogie hex that sent him toppling down the stairs. Harry yelled 'expelliarmus' and Bruce's wand flew away, while I emerged from under the cape to drop a second bodyguard. The fourth man was approaching me and I heard Harry yell 'protego', I turned and fired a curse at my attacker, but he was gone. He appeared behind me, as Harry again shouted 'protego'. As I turned to fire a curse at him, I heard the heart rending cry "Avada Kedavra", saw a bright green light, and then my whole world faded to black.

This was not the time that I would have chosen for my life to end. I couldn't see or hear, but could still sense the worry and shock flowing from Harry via our secret communication channel. Then, that too faded away. Nothing.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20 – How Can I Go On Living Without Ginny?**

"MY SISTER IS DEAD!"

I aimed my wand as Hermione and I raced up the stairs to the bank, summoned by a nearly inhuman scream of agony from Harry, "Ginny is dead! It's all my fault."

My wand quickly found the lone remaining assailant, and "Avada…" had already passed my lips, before I saw my enemy collapse in a heap and start to roll down the stone steps. He was coming right at me, so I stepped a little to the side and kicked him in the head as the body rolled past.

"You shouldn't do that, Ron," Hermione chided me reflexively. I didn't even defend myself. The only thought in my brain was the one that I knew was also filling Harry's mind: If we had stepped aside and allowed the two Ministers and their aurors to handle this, Ginny would still be alive and Harry would be looking forward to a very happy life with her. Of course I thought of Mom. This would destroy her. Fred had hit her hard, but two children in a month and her only daughter - the youngest of us. It was unthinkable.

Harry was hunched over Ginny's inert body, tears running down both cheeks, as he made heart-wrenching wordless cries. I rushed to his side, putting my arm around his shoulders.

"How can I go on living without Ginny?" Harry asked me.

Fortunately, Monsieur Delacour spoke, before I could attempt to say something remotely comforting. What could I possibly say?

"It may not be too late," I heard Monsieur Delacour speak into Harry's ear. "We must get her to Beauxbatons immediately. The Rod of Asclepias has been surprisingly effective in the past." Turning his head towards us, he spoke in a whisper, "you had best go home and tell Arthur and Molly. They should be told immediately. Give them some hope, but not too much hope. That would be cruel."

"We'll go back to the Ministry right away. Arthur is …." Before Hermione could even finish the sentence, Monsieur Delacour had grabbed Ginny and Harry and vanished.

"Let's go," Hermione nudged me.

I took her hand and apparated to Dad's ante-room. Prudence looked up and could tell at once that something was very wrong. "Umm, you better go right in…"

We were in, before she finished speaking. Dad was talking to Madam Bones, but stopped in mid-sentence, when he saw our faces.

"Ginny has been killed," I told him. "Madame Delacour holds out a little hope that the Rod of Asclepias might..."

"What can we tell your mother?" Dad spoke through sobs. "First Fred, and now…"

"We know," Hermione tried to console him. "Don't give up hope."

"I let her stay and came back to England to do my very important work, knowing my little girl planned to fight terrible Wizards. What kind of father am I. I should have sent her home and led the fight, myself. Shacklebolt would have been happy to..." He was again sobbing too much to speak.

"Ginny was doing what she felt she had to do, what she wanted to do, what she wasn't going to be stopped..."

"I'm her father. It's my job to find a way to make her be sensible. It was my job. I failed. I don't know what I can say to Molly. This will utterly destroy her. I'm not at all sure it won't destroy me. I just don't..."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21 – The Answers We Sought**

I was flat on my back, but saw Harry staring down at me. He was speaking, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. I wanted to reach out and restore our secret link, but my arm wouldn't move. I mouthed the words "are we both dead?"

Harry reached down and brushed the hair off my face. {[relief mixed with guilty worry] We aren't dead. You were just stunned. You were out for a half hour. Give yourself time to come around. Meier Hyack cursed you in the back with the 'Avada Kedavra' before I could fully block his curse. Fortunately, he was carrying the fake elder wand. It mainly blew back and killed him, but you got a big enough piece of the blast to knock you senseless. You're in the Beauxbaton's infirmary, and they used the Rod of Asclepias to bring you back. You've come around quickly enough that I don't think you're hurt too badly [worried a lot more than letting on]}

I saw Monsieur Delacour touching both Harry and me, feeling the warmth of his hand firmly grasping my left shoulder. Then I felt dizzy and the light changed and I was puking all over myself. Harry cleaned me up with his wand and smoothed the hair off my forehead again {[worry] You passed out again for a few seconds. You seem better now. You probably should just rest. I'll sit here with you.}

I found that I could move my arms again, so I reached out and grasped Harry's wrist. {[relief] See, you're getting stronger already. Oops, the doctor wants me to move away.}

A white-coated female doctor passed her wand over my head and chest, then explored my arms and legs with her hands. I could tell that she was saying something to me, but could make out little beyond random noise interspersed between the buzzing in my head. Harry touched me {[a little alarm] You can't hear, can you? She wants you to try moving your arms and legs.}

I lifted first my right arm and then my left, opening and closing my hands into widely splayed fingers, then a fist, then normal. I lifted each leg in succession, first straight out and then bending the knee a bit. It was tiring, so I didn't keep them up long. The doctor was speaking again. {[less worry] the doctor seems fairly pleased with that. She's going to get a potion for you to drink. Hang in there. You seem to be gaining strength. Don't worry [worry].}

The doctor returned quickly, and she and Harry lifted me to a semi-sitting position, so I could drink the cup of potion. I had a little trouble swallowing, and coughed a few times, but I got most of the potion down. It was bitter, but tasted a bit like peppermint. I was lowered back to a nearly flat on my back position, elevated only by the thick pillow under my head. [[less worry] You are supposed to rest now. The doctor says you should be recovered in about a day [guilt]}.

I was told that I slept for four hours and that the Rod of Asclepias had been employed during my slumbers. Mom and Dad had joined Harry in his vigil over my inert carcass. I felt clearer headed than when I fell asleep and was distinguishing sounds a little better, but Harry was still translating for me. It turned out that Mom and Dad had come to Beauxbatons prepared to carry my dead body back to Britain. "Ron told us that you had been killed," Mom told me, bursting into tears again. "I don't think I could have handled that. I'm so glad that he was wrong."

"For a few nasty minutes we all thought that she had died," Harry replied. "Monsieur Delacour made a last chance effort to quickly get her to the Rod of Asclepias, and it saved her. When we apparated to Beauxbatons, I couldn't detect any signs of life."

I just lay there, taking in this new information. That certainly explained all the fear that I kept reading in Harry's thoughts, as well as the guilt. I guess I had squeaked through a lot tighter than I had realized. I couldn't blame Harry. It was my own stupid error during the fight, which had left me in this condition. If Harry hadn't used the 'protego' or if Hyack had been holding a real wand, I certainly would not be here to think about this. I was sensing a new concern and emotion flowing from Harry's hand into my wrist.

{[ashamed, guilty, upset] Your Dad still wants me to run for Deputy Minister. He says he is apologetic and feels like a poor father to be asking at a time like this, but that he is also the Minister, and that we are within hours of needing to submit the filing papers.}

Apparently, Minister Shacklebolt was still comatose, though encouragingly near to the point where awakening was to be anticipated. "Definitely not today," were Doctor White's exact words. "Perhaps in a couple of days or a week." He was not progressing quite as fast as the good doctor had hoped or expected. He says that Shacklebolt is a most unusual case. He thinks somebody may have given him an unauthorized sleeping potion, while he was at St. Mungos. I suspect Doctor Sprout, but there is no proof. The deadline for Harry's decision is thus upon us. I know the capture of Bruce Montaigne lessens the electoral difficulties, but I think it is still very important to add your name to the ticket. You can always resign after the election in favor of Shacklebolt, if you find the job is impossible for you. There really is nobody better."

Harry replied, "I'm still really not certain that my entering the election is the wise thing to do. Professor McGonagall made a really convincing case weeks back that I just don't have the background in Wizard culture and Wizard politics to avoid being eaten alive by the other politicians and the media."

"You'll have advisors to assist you with the ins and outs of the Ministry, and with the backgrounds and aims of the other politicians and bureaucrats. That actually presents a solution to a serious personal problem. Percy has been squawking to me about feeling shut out of my administration and feels he's been treated like 'some anonymous lower level bureaucrat in the Ministry, whose name you've never cared to learn.' I certainly haven't included Percy in my inner circle, although he knows his way around the Ministry more than anyone in that circle. We just built up enough bad feeling over the past several years that I haven't felt entirely comfortable working with him. He does deserve a chance to get back into the political game on our side, however. I hoped that he might be your chief assistant, and be your presence at the Ministry while you were at Hogwarts.

"There are not a lot of stated responsibilities for the Deputy Minister, although there certainly is a lot of work to be done. Percy is a hard worker and can get a lot of the work done, but frankly he lacks the reputation and appeal as the face to be put forward to the public. Plus, I can hardly put forward my own son as my Deputy. He is best off behind the scenes. I'm hoping you'll accept in the interest of your community."

"Let me talk it over with Ginny and Ron and Hermione," Harry replied.

Mom and Dad left us alone, saying they would send in Ron and Hermione. Harry was holding my hand {[I know something I'm not supposed to] I heard your Mom whisper "are you sure this is really the appropriate time to push Harry, Arthur?" and your Dad whispered back "I agree it's not fair, but there's no other alternative. It has to be Harry and he has to decide now." So, what do you think I should do? I feel very inadequate to the task. I couldn't even protect you this morning.}

"Those are two completely different things, the Deputy Minister is not a fighter, and you did quite well this morning. That was the best 'expelliarmus' you've done in ages and your 'protego' blocked the attack on Lord Montaigne and the first attack on me. Your second 'protego' probably kept me alive. This was my fault. I thought I had my back against the wall, but drifted forward far enough that Hyack was able to get in back of me. You and I are not going to get along long term if you keep thinking of Witches as helpless creatures in need of your protection. I can fight very well, although I made a serious mistake. I really do know how uniquely lucky I am to have the opportunity to learn from this particular mistake. I'll say it before Hermione does. We both messed up. After all the practicing, we both got overly excited and forgot everything we've practiced. We fought a static fight, without apparating. Hyack beat me by apparating. Neither of us went to 'petrificus' as our first or second curse. It was like we hadn't practiced at all. Like we spent the whole night sitting against that cold wall without rehearsing what we would do."

{[Shame.]}

I decided to drop that subject.

Ron and Hermione showed up and asked how I was doing. Harry's silent translation allowed me to reply "I'm getting stronger. I can speak and I can move. In fact, I'd like to sit up." I almost sat up all by myself. Harry gave me a little help and Hermione stuffed pillows behind my back to wedge me upright.

"Ginny's still having a little difficulty with the hearing," Harry explained. "Mr. Weasley is pushing me for an answer about running for Deputy Minister. We are just a few hours from the deadline. I'm afraid that McGonagall was right and I'm not ready for this job yet. Mr. Weasley says that Percy would be an excellent assistant for me and would cover my shortcomings with regard to not understanding the workings of the Ministry or the positions of the key politicians and department heads."

"Dad can do the job of Minister," Ron assured Harry. "He is smart, and he has a lot of experience with the ins and outs of all the departments at the Ministry. When you get beyond the department heads to the people who actually do most of the work, Dad has a lot better idea of who can be trusted than Shacklebolt did. He does well negotiating with the Muggle Prime Minister, and most of the Wizards know he is honest and that they can trust him to always try to do the right thing.

"The problem is, not enough of them trust that he is capable of actually doing the right thing.

"My father is one of the quiet war heroes. He showed courage, loyalty, persistence, and devotion to the best Wizard ideals, but he is not seen as strong, or decisive, or as a leader. He lacks charisma. It was fine when he was teamed with Shacklebolt, but now, at the top of the ticket, he needs a running-mate who is perceived as active, strong, perhaps even impetuous, but most definitely a doer and a leader. You are the best choice.

"Slughorn was a cute stunt for Professor McGonagall to unleash for the continuous tormenting of Bruce, but he'd be a lousy Minister. If Dad has a weak Deputy Minister candidate, Slughorn just might win. And Dr. Sprout could pick a good running mate from the Great Families and pose a strong challenge.

"We've had a lot of bad Ministers. It's up to you to make sure we get a good one. I also like the idea of a Deputy Minister from our generation. Voldemort would still be here, if it weren't for us."

"I'm willing to help you as much as you want me to," Hermione offered. "It will give me an opportunity to push for the rights of Elves. I think you will do a good job. I know you won't do bad things. I can't say that about the opposing candidates."

I told Harry, "You can see that we all want you to run. We'll all help you and so will Percy and Professor McGonagall."

"Alright," Harry replied. "I'll do it. Only, don't count on help from Professor McGonagall. She made her position perfectly clear. She thinks this is a serious mistake. Send Mr. Weasley back in".

Dad was very happy to hear Harry's decision and promised to make the race and the job as pleasant for Harry as possible. "I'll listen to all your suggestions, try not to tie you down too badly, and get you whatever help you need. I'm really glad that you decided to do this. I don't think either of us will regret it. I know that I'm seen as having certain limitations, but I really believe that I will be a far better Minister than Sprout or Slughorn."

I realized I didn't even know how the Battle of the Zuercher Bank had ended and asked "would one of you please explain what happened after I blacked out? I know that we won, but I don't know any of the details." Harry gave me a very detailed explanation.

"Meier Hyack died attacking you. After Bruce was disarmed, he just stood there and then an auror hit him with a 'petrificus'. He was quickly captured. Oh, and your brother Ron kicked him, while he was rolling down the steps. The two bodyguards that you cursed stayed down and were captured. The six guys at the bottom of the stairs never got into the fight. They were swarmed by a dozen aurors and French officers and were dropped where they stood. Everyone is in the custody of the French Ministry.

"Bruce was questioned under the influence of Veritaserum, in his father's presence, and revealed the location of his hideout in Paris. Three of his henchmen were captured at that site, and the Flamel documents and Joan of Arc's armor were recovered. They have been returned to Beauxbatons. Monsieur Delacour also recovered 5,000 of the gold galleons and some interesting records of the Grindelwald gang's operations. The gold galleons were apparently meant as payment to the remaining Giants. They have been holding the Carrows hostage until they get the payment.

"Bruce also gave the location of his financial trading headquarters. It was in Brussels, and the French Ministry and Belgian police have raided it. George Kempen was arrested at that location. Bruce admitted that he recruited Kempen and Reginald Fortescue from the squibs who were supported in the Muggle world by the New Start Society. His father gave him access to the Society's records. Lord Montaigne is extremely apologetic. Bruce says that Reginald did not have any magical ability, but George Kempen did. Bruce had George's confundus spell reversed, so that he could use his magical powers in their various financial scams.

"Bruce admits to using the Imperius curse on a German bond dealer and confunding several French currency traders in support of a scam. He admits to placing the Malfoy estate manager under an Imperius curse to take advantage of him. He also admitted to using the confundus charm or Imperius curse on a dozen young men and women whom he picked up in French and Belgian nightclubs. He is indignant that his father objects to this behavior. He said, 'all of these individuals should have felt honored to be the partner of the heir to Gunter Gran Montine. I am really due much more fealty and respect than I have received in my lifetime.'

"The French and British Ministries and his father are debating his fate. They all agree he is clearly insane. It is certain that he will be stripped of his title and inheritance rights and the Muggles will permanently ban him from all financial dealing. He is currently in St. Mungo's, being guarded by a team of aurors. Kempen is being held by the French Ministry: he knows too much to be turned over to the Muggle authorities.

"With their leaders gone and their funding removed, Viktor and Monsieur Delacour both believe that the Grindelwald conspiracy is at an end. Its rank-and-file members will fade away. A lot of them were poor Wizards working for the lavish pay, with no particular love of the Grindelwald philosophy. Viktor will return to Hogwarts with us. He plans to see Cho again and then return to Durmstrang to put things there and at the German Ministry in order. I'm supposed to go back to the Ministry in an hour to sign papers and meet the media, along with your Dad. I'll rejoin you at Hogwarts, hopefully tonight, if you're fit enough to travel."

"So, it all ended well," I concluded.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two – A Crowded Pub In London**

"What a bloody cockup! At least the aurors weren't led back to us."

"I agree Gertie, that whole affair could have turned out much better. Not that I ever agreed to trusting or working with Bruce. He cared nothing for us and lived in his own fairy tale land. Perhaps now, finally, I'll be back in charge. I thought my plan would net us Potter's whole gang - I never would have expected Potter to arrive with so many aurors. I'm just glad that I restrained myself and wasn't on hand to gloat."

"I heard that Weasley found out about Potter's operation and insisted on the aurors. But, Pi, I thought you were in charge of the remaining Death Eaters."

"Weell… I've had to answer to a higher authority. One thought more in tune with 'the spirit of our Dark Lord'. A right hash that has caused. I was just put in charge of you, Gertie. But my star will rise. This alliance with the accursed Grindelwalds will surely be recognized as the folly that it has been. I wouldn't mind this alliance of necessity if we were in charge, but those fools have behaved as if they control us. It seemed beyond obvious that Bruce wasn't a suitable leader. Take his money and shunt him to the side, - that was the winning ticket. That pompous Slughorn is right about one thing: Bruce is far more French than British."

"I won't miss Bruce, either, Pi. I'm surprised the coward would be on hand for a fight to slay Potter."

"There was no need for Bruce to know about Potter. Bruce had his plan and I had mine. All he had to do was collect his money. I dislike taking orders from imbeciles. I expected young Bruce to be arrested at Gringotts, but when he wasn't, I sensed Potter's cunning. I was right. It was dumb luck that Weasley was there to save Potter. I'm just glad that Rowle was smart enough to slink away, when he saw how badly the numbers were against him."

"Couldn't Rowle have warned Bruce about all the aurors."

"Umm, possibly, but he possibly would have put himself in danger by doing so. Really, Gertie, Bruce wasn't worth it."

"Is it time for us to flee to Australia?"

"Not just yet, Gertie. I have some more cards to play. The long game has barely begun. If we must flee to run the game from abroad, I'm willing, but I'll not be driven from my home, just yet. Now, stick to my plan. It's your free-lancing that caused much of this trouble. The troubles will pass. Weasley is too weak to last for long. I think this last episode has driven a wedge between Potter and the various Weasleys. Nearly got the girl killed, didn't he? My top job for you is to try to keep Sprout in line. That one is very unreliable."

"Until next time, Pi, and I really think blond is your color. If I didn't know better, I might take you home with me."

"Don't be impertinent, Gertie. I'll be number one when you see me again."


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty Three – The Press Almost Catches Up To Us**

The next day's papers provided an eerie flashback to a time only a couple days removed from all the adventures that had transpired. All of us, including Mom, sat lounged around in the common room, reading the papers and commenting on the headlines and opinions.

The Daily Prophet had been caught behind the news cycle, and boasted a Bruce Montaigne in full campaign mode:

**Bruce Montaigne Accuses Minister Weasley of Irresponsible Weakness **

**Merchants Demand That Minister At Least Try To Do Something **

**Support for Minister Weasley Faltering**

The Daily Prophet's senior reporter had only withering disdain for comments by Gwenog Jones, but she had clearly analyzed events correctly when she stated "I believe Bruce was behind these attacks, himself. It is the sort of thing that Voldemort and his supporters did to frighten ordinary Wizards to turn away from their leaders. It's easy to stop a terror campaign, when you've started it."

Having participated in the actual events, Mr. Lovegood had a far more accurate and timely take on recent events:

**Bruce Montaigne Confesses to Leading Grindelwald Group in Attack on Beauxbatons**

**Lord Montaigne is Illegitimate Heir**

**EXTRA! JUST REPORTED – Bruce Montaigne Arrested With French Terrorists, To Be Tried For Treason Lord Montaigne Apologizes For His Son – Estate to Go to Daughter – But Is Harry Potter The Rightful Heir? **

**Ginny Weasley – The Girl Who Lived**

This article certainly captured my attention. It spoke of my surviving an 'Avada Kedavra' in the back from Meier Hyack from the Elder Wand. Mister Lovegood speculated that the Peverell's had built such knowledge into this particular wand that not only did it recognize Harry Potter as its owner when Voldemort tried to slay him with the Elder Wand, but it also recognized that I was on Harry's side or that I was his girlfriend or that we at least had some kind of special bond, so that it refused to kill me, either. In any case, Mr. Lovegood wrote, "this was the second time during this momentous month of June that the Elder Wand backfired and killed a villain who was trying to slay its owner or his friend. At the very least, the wand knew that Harry had used a 'protego' charm to protect Ginny from its wielder."

He went on to say, "Harry Potter had very responsibly buried this wand, so that its power could never again be used for evil, but the corrupt auror Bron Turner had retrieved it for his even more evil bosses, Meier Hyack and Bruce Montaigne or, as the pretentious fool prefers to be called, Gunter Gran Montine. Harry reports that the wand has once again been hidden away and he has trusted nobody with the knowledge of its hiding spot. Harry told me 'the wand may have been irreversibly damaged in the battle, but I've had buried it in a new hiding spot, just to be safe. The thing practically exploded in Hyack's face. He died instantly.' So much for those who would steal Peverell's wand." The reportage ended with a quote from Gwenog saying "as I said when I announced my candidacy, Witches who play Quidditch are incredibly tough. I understand that wimp Bruce Montaigne surrendered like a baby when he lost his little wand. How the members of the so-called Great Families can follow an insane coward like that truly amazes me."

The Daily Prophet was so embarrassed that it would fire its senior reporter and complain to the Ministry about the Quibbler being given preferential access to breaking news. The Quibbler was nearing the sales of the Daily Prophet. Dad would apologize to The Prophet, but explained that Mr. Lovegood had participated in the investigation of Bruce. Dad also was less than amused by the focus upon me in the last article, fearing it painted a bulls-eye on my back. I really don't think it made me any more of a target than I already was. I was a smart-alecky Witch who wouldn't back down, a warrior who had slain Giants, and also a Weasley and Harry Potter's girlfriend. Lots of baddies would happily kill me on those grounds alone.

George wanted to know if I now carried a scar on my back or arse. "It would be kind of neat if you and Harry were a matched set," he explained.

I admitted to George "Harry and I are a matched set. I now have a scar on my right bottom cheek. It's a good thing that Hyack aimed too low in the excitement of the battle and apparating. Had he hit me in the middle of my back, I'd likely not be here talking to you."

"Very impressive, little sister. Have you shown Harry your scar?"

"Not yet, but I plan to, tonight."

"Even more impressive."

Harry also thought it was cool that we had a matching set of Death Eater scars. He called us "the couple that was too tough to die."

This sent Mom into as blind fury, such as I hadn't seen in years. Clearly, we had all forgotten Mom's presence.

"Of all the irresponsible, arrogant, death-seeking things to say, I think that tops them all. You and Ginny have taken way too many risks and been way luckier than any couple has a right to expect. If you keep taking risks, I'm afraid you'll learn too late that neither of you is too tough to die. Do you think my Fred wasn't tough enough? He had the same bravado that the two of you are showing. Just look where it got him."

Mom was gone, leaving a trail of tears in her wake. {[totally deflated] Wow! That has to be the most tactless of the many tactless things I've said lately. I certainly didn't want to make light of your near-death, or remind your Mom of Fred, or make you seem like a foolish risk seeker. I just got caught up in George's merriment. [Regret] Should I go apologize to Molly?}

"No, she needs to be alone for a while. The girls' stairs would reject you, anyway. I'll go up to her, in a few minutes. You can apologize later, but mainly, just assure her that you will do your best to keep me safe. It is amazing that Mom is directing so much ire at you. Normally, you're the fair-haired almost son. Either she is unbelievably upset at you, or you are now officially part of the family. Or both."

Harry continued to look very uncomfortable. Even from six feet away, I felt mental pressure from his thoughts to get up and see to Mom, already. I did just that. Mom was no longer crying, when I found her in her room. In fact, she was working on lesson plans, although she wasn't actively writing. I watched her for a few moments, before making my presence obvious.

"I get angry, because I love the two of you. I can't stand to see you laughing at the risks that we all know are out there. Enough will find you. You don't need to seek them out or tempt fate. I know we all deal with stress and danger differently, but Harry's boast just touched a raw nerve."

"I know, Mom. Harry is really sorry. He's also sorry that we didn't give more than perfunctory notice to Dad of our Honeydukes meeting. He feels like a prat."

"That's good, dear. I love him, but he is behaving like a prat. I'm glad that you and Harry are together, but I do sometimes worry that the two of you drive each other to challenge the limits and take unnecessary risks. I know that Harry will be a reluctant Deputy Minister. I just hope he understands that Deputy Ministers are thinkers and persuaders, rather than fighters. Mainly, they're doers of whatever the Minister asks them to do. It may be difficult, but Harry has to think of Dad as his new Dumbledore. Harry still has a lot to learn. So do you.

"Now, let's put on our happy faces and rejoin your friends. I know that Harry is influenced by the headmaster and she is correct in telling Harry that he isn't ready. I think this counts as exigent circumstances. Besides, it likely comes as no surprise to either of you that the headmaster was assuming that the Deputy Minister slot would be offered to her. Arthur and I have discussed the matter and I think he has good reason not to give the job to the headmaster. Besides, she's very busy, already."


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty-Four – Acting Deputy Minister Potter and Friends**

The summer was progressing well. Harry was an articulate candidate who did his part to provide a sense of decisiveness to the ticket. I think he became more comfortable with his new assignment a lot quicker than many of us feared.

There was a contentious lunch shortly after Harry accepted his spot on the ticket. Harry was mentioning to Draco that he felt inadequate for the job and only reluctantly accepted. Hermione told Harry "This was the Minister's choice and he felt you were the best person to improve his electability."

Ron supported Hermione, declaring "Dad regarded Harry as the only viable choice."

This last, possibly impolitic, remark brought a quick and rather angry response from , because McGonagall. "That's not at all true, Ron, all though it's possible that's what Arthur believes. I know for a fact that Minister Fudge offered his services. I implied that I would be willing to step up, if called upon. Madam Bones is more than capable. Nobody has a better grasp of Wizarding law or a greater love of justice than she does. I daresay Professor Flitwick is more prepared for the job than Harry is."

This brought a shocked look, and a gasp, followed by "not at all interested," from Professor Flitwick.

"Fudge would be awful," Ron declared. "His desire to save his job let Voldemort rise to power. He fought Dumbledore and us at every turn. He persecuted Harry wasn't willing to just stand aside and let the Death Eaters take over. What sort of message would it send to appoint Fudge?"

"Well, he wouldn't be my first choice. I'm just saying that he was available and that he has a lot of experience that Harry lacks. He might also be a bridge to the more conservative Wizards. But, please, don't dwell on Fudge. I'm sorry I mentioned him. What I'd really like to see is a Witch on the ticket. Witches seldom get their due, when it comes to handing out high offices. Shacklebolt was just more same-old, same-old. Not what I would expect from true revolutionaries."."

"He was the first black Minister of Magic," Hermione hastened to remind McGonagall.

"But there are so few black Wizards or Witches in Britain and so many Witches," McGonagall retorted. "It's time for a Witch in the executive suite of the Ministry.

"I agree that Witches are under-represented," Hermione agreed, "but three elected Ministers ago we had Millicent Bagnold. She served for ten years."

"Yes she did. Do you really find one Witch out of five, six if you count Thicknesse, to be acceptable. I don't."

"I told the Minister that Hermione would do a better job than I would. I'd like to see a Muggle-born Deputy Minister. I do agree with the Minister that it's a good thing to have a Deputy from our generation. So much has changed since the rise of Voldemort and the Ministry needs to change with it."

"I'd have the same objection of insufficient experience and gut-feel for Wizarding ways with Hermione as I have with you. You're both very smart and brave and you desire to do what is right, but how much can you truly understand at your age. There is a benefit to lived experience. Well, I won't further belabor the point. What's done is done. I'm sure that Arthur acted with the best of intentions and that Harry will do his best to be a good Deputy. I'm sure the rest of you will do everything you can to help Harry. I only hope that it is enough."

She might have expected a sharp response from us. In any case, she pushed her dessert aside and left the table. Contrary to most such occasions, the rest of us lingered to finish our tea and dessert, rather than accepting McGonagall's action as a mandatory signal to get back to work.

I think McGonagall's admonition gave Harry a strong desire to cast his self-doubt to the side and make a success of this venture. He had the reputation of our whole generation riding on his shoulders. I know that I felt more compelled to work over-time to help Harry succeed.

Dad had installed Harry as Acting Deputy. He even began behaving as the Acting Minister, rather than simply the Acting Deputy of the temporarily missing Minister Shacklebolt. Shacklebolt remained in a coma. Doctor White was still optimistic about a full recovery, but seemed astounded that the revival of Shacklebolt had yet to be accomplished.

Harry and Percy got along very well after an initial rocky start at trying to establish their relationship. Percy said it was a little awkward "because when we first got to know each other, I was the Prefect and you were the very young famous Harry Potter and now you're going to be the Deputy Minister of Magic."

Harry replied that "basically, you're still the Prefect and I'm still just the very young famous Harry Potter. The biggest difference is that now I'm your sister's boyfriend." Percy didn't know quite what to make of that.

Harry was saved from miscues on tricky questions from the press by a seemingly endless stream of position papers and briefing books prepared for him by Percy and Hermione. I contributed to many of them. Harry spent hours each night diligently studying them. It was making up for a lot of what he had missed by sleeping through class, missing his seventh year, and not growing up in a Wizarding family. He was picking up a lot more than the basics in Wizard civics, from the basic laws to organization of the Ministry, budget and taxes, duties and privileges of the Wizengamot, and recent Wizard history.

He had been introduced to the Muggle Prime Minister and to their queen. It was a world of new experiences to him. My work on the briefing papers and the time I spent at night reviewing them with Harry, greatly eased the sense that he was moving away from me. Harry greatly appreciated the thoroughness of the briefing books and position papers that we gave him, sharing his praise so enthusiastically that we all felt a part of his current adventure. Even Ron pitched in.

Percy, in particular, was pleased to have his work taken so seriously by Harry. He beamed every time Harry used comments or statistics from the briefing papers. Being seen by all to be taken so seriously by Harry boosted Percy's prestige at the Ministry and lifted his spirits enormously. He delighted in having the Deputy Minister's office almost exclusively to himself and happily ordered about Harry's other assistant/receptionist, Callista, although I noticed that he treated her with a great deal of sensitivity and respect.

Percy even inquired what sort of work Callista preferred to do. She was very interested in family issues and the lack of good jobs for the Witches and Wizards who had graduated from Hogwarts in the last decade. She was very pleased when Percy gave her responsibility for creating the position statements and briefing papers on those topics. She also worked with Hermione on Elves rights and how free Elves could successfully work within Wizard households. To give her a broader perspective, Percy got Harry's permission to send her on a trip to France with Hermione to meet with free French Elves who worked for the Ministry, in Wizards homes, or who ran their own businesses or farms. As the summer wore on, she joined Percy in briefing Harry and drilling him on the facts and principles that he needed to have at his fingertips.

I was pleased that Percy and Harry were getting along so well. I had feared that Dad had just dumped his 'Percy problem' onto my boyfriend and that Percy would resent working for the younger Harry, instead of for Dad. If Percy felt any resentment, he never showed it. To Harry's credit, he never lorded over Percy, treating always treating him respectfully as a more-experienced comrade. I don't think I could have been that nice to Percy. To be honest, this was a new Percy, who had learned from his error in sucking up Scrimgouer. Still, I really had worried a lot that Harry and Percy just wouldn't be able to get along and that this would sour Harry's standing with my father.

One evening, as I was present for Harry's briefing by Percy, Hermione, and Callista, I had a thought which I wasn't sure whether I should interpret as a sign of my growing maturity or a remnant of a lingering jealous nature. I was struck by what a very beautiful Witch Callista was and the sudden realization that she must be only two to four years older than Harry. In appearance, she was fairly much me, but with a couple inches of increased height and long blond hair, down nearly to her waist. That was all unavoidable observation and simply noticing the Witch in front of me. The thought that gave me pause was wondering whether Callista was married or at least had a boyfriend. I felt good that I did not sense feelings of overt jealousy in myself. I also realized that I liked Callista and respected the job she was doing and the seeming ease with which she was doing the job really well. I thought it best not to share this particular train of thought with Harry.

She was a very intelligent Witch, who had obviously received a solid education at Hogwarts. That reminded me that I could inquire at Hogwarts to learn more about her, except I didn't know her surname. It was a little hard to fit my question into the flow of conversation, but I had the opportunity, when Harry was focused upon a set of charts that Percy was explaining to him. It turned out that her full name was Callista Wright and that she was Margaret's much older sibling. I wondered when Margaret's growth spurt would occur. It was already a tad late as these things go for Witches.

A potentially sticky spot arose a few weeks into the campaign, when Shacklebolt awoke to find himself no longer a part of the ticket. Dad assured Kingsley that he was once again Acting Minister and that he was quite happy to return to being Acting Deputy Minister. Harry told them both that he was quite content to be just plain Harry Potter. The only disappointed face was Percy's, when told he had to vacate the Deputy Minister's suite. Dad got him a reasonably nice office nearby, and Shacklebolt named him a special assistant.

Shacklebolt allowed Percy and Callista to continue to assist Harry on the campaign, but Harry felt it best that he pay them for the half of their time spent on his campaign.

Hermione was quick to point out that, by Muggles rules, he already should have been doing that. Harry looked abashed and even turned pink. "I didn't realize that. Arthur never mentioned it. I don't have as good a grasp of Muggle politics as you do. Do you think Wizard rules are the same? I'll ask Arthur tomorrow."

In the end, Dad sent Harry to Shacklebolt, who pronounced the possible offense "no big deal at all. All Ministers have used their assistants for political work. It may not be strictly to the letter of what is viewed as the law, but I don't think there actually is a written rule prohibiting it."

Harry and I were much relieved to learn this, until we simultaneously came to the realization that most ethics rules were 'no big deal at all' to Shacklebolt. We vowed that Harry would be more careful in toeing the line from now on. I couldn't imagine trying to explain to Mom why I found myself living in a borrowed Muggle country estate. I wondered if Shacklebolt still had a mother.

Harry turned over a handful of galleons to the government, getting a receipt in return. This made Dad feel less than honorable, so he also scrounged up some galleons. In the end, this restitution for an 'offense' that had drawn no notice and been taken for granted, drew a scathing article in the Daily Prophet. A day later, Xenophilius sprung to the defense, writing that it was well known that the time spent by prior Ministers' staffs on political work had been both extensive and non-reimbursed, and that the Daily Prophet had never before seen fit to comment upon the practice. "It is strange that they chose to attack the first candidates to follow the rule."

All in all, I thought Shacklebolt reacted surprisingly well to not being on the election ballot. I was present when he told Dad and Harry, apparently not for the first time, "I was unavailable. You had no choice but to replace me. You did exactly the right thing. I would have done the same if it was you, Arthur, who had been unconscious for weeks. We probably should have had someone from the younger generation on our ticket from the start." Shacklebolt told Dad that if Dad and Harry won the election, he wanted to be appointed Director of the Auror Corps. Dad readily promised that he would do this. "I can't think of anybody else that I would prefer or trust more to lead the aurors."

From that point forward, Shacklebolt focused well over half of his time to continuing to clean up and restructure the auror corps. More and more of the other duties of the Ministry were delegated to Dad. Shacklebolt took the lead in dealing with the Wizengamot and in keeping an eye on what Madam Bones was doing, but even gave Dad opportunities to make verbal reports and requests to the Wizengamot, in his stead. Dad feared that this arrangement allowed him to steal some of Shacklebolt's glory and power. Shacklebolt reassured him, "it is best that we practice and ease our way into what will very soon be our long-term future relationship. Please believe me, when I assure you that I don't feel slighted in the least. I'll do whatever I can to help you get elected, and putting you in a position that people can see how well you perform the duties of Minister, will most definitely help you get elected. My first love is the Auror Corps. I am more than willing to be your Director of Aurors. In fact, I look forward to it and would be happier if I could move into that position today, but I realize that is impossible. I still believe you should have been interim Minister from the start. People trust you a lot more than they trust me, and I have more committed enemies than you do."

Doctor Sprout chose to stay in the race and surprised everyone by naming Pansy Parkinson's mother as his new running mate. Lord Montaigne had assured Doctor Sprout that Mrs. Parkinson would be eminently acceptable to the Great Families. In truth, she seemed the only member of the Families willing to sign on for what appeared to be certain defeat. Pansy took great pleasure and pride in her mother's new fame and avidly grabbed the papers every breakfast, to see if her mother had been quoted or talked about. Draco didn't quite seem to know what to make of the change.

Professor Slughorn gave every sign of enjoying himself immensely, and kept banging away at what had become his three plank platform: saving Slytherin, cleaning up St. Mungo's and making restitution to the displaced squibs, and educating squibs within the Wizard community. He quickly turned the need to clean up St. Mungo's and make restitution into direct attacks upon Dr. Sprout's integrity saying "even if we don't know of any abuses by Doctor Sprout in the past decade, he has certainly shown far greater skill for covering up this mess than he has for even a feeble attempt at restitution. At the very least, I would expect a professional with first-hand knowledge of these abuses to be surpassing me in leading the effort to change the way squibs are treated. Shamefully, he has not deemed this matter worthy of his notice."

Mr. Filch and his burgeoning magical skills became the topic of a major story in The Quibbler and a few paragraphs in The Daily Prophet. Mr. Filch became exhibit one for Professor Slughorn's argument and, toward the end of the campaign, he had started goading Dad to demand an explanation for the circumstances of Mr. Filch not receiving a proper magical education.

Mr. Filch made a good focus. While the students tended to hate him, somehow a decade or more absence from Hogwarts gave the graduates a more sentimental view of Filch. His case might not be as gross an injustice as the case of Hermione's Mom, but Filch was known to all. Any character flaws he had displayed over the years were now put down to 'the mistreatment he experienced as a youth – only natural the poor man would be embittered', at least that's what I overheard a Witch tell her husband in Diagon Alley.

Ernie was writing a lot of the election coverage, his career further buoyed by the exclusive he got when Harry gave him an in-depth interview about our adventure in Zurich and the unmasking of Bruce. Ernie credited Hermione with recognizing that 'Gunter Gran Montine' was actually Bruce. Frakes was reinstated, and had not been made one smidgeon nicer by his several weeks of unemployment.

Dr. Sprout jettisoned just about the whole Bruce platform, other than lowering taxes. He endlessly apologized for the problems at St. Mungo's and swore that, win or lose, he would work tirelessly to clean up the mess. He made a surprise visit to Hogwarts, with no press invited, to personally apologize to the Grangers. Pansy also apologized for "all the nasty things I ever said to Hermione. I never even suspected she was a Black." Pansy's mother did not make the trip.

All the candidates agreed that the exact nature of the squib restitution program would be decided after the election, since Lord Montaigne wanted to be certain that the new Minister of Magic would bless all the specifics. He had insisted upon placing all of the money that Bruce had withdrawn from Gringott's bank into the Ministry's hands, until the specifics of the restitution had been decided. Lord Montaigne was spending much of his time helping to unscramble the records of St. Mungo's and the New Start Society. He was also using his influence to trace the squibs and their descendants along their path through Muggle society after the Society's payments had ended.

Hagrid returned a week before the election, reporting that the Giants were pacified and going about their own lives as normal. Grawp had decided to remain with what was left of the Giant tribe. The Giants had killed the Carrows. "It was a terrible thing, Ginny, yer wouldn't have wanted ter be there to see it," Hagrid reported. Hagrid missed Grawp, but said he had "trained him up to be one of the smarter Giants. He gets on real well with the new leader, and he's got a girlfriend."

So much time had been consumed on the election that Professor McGonagall had to postpone Hermione's lecture. We did do some school-related work. Magical practice was held every afternoon, right after lunch. Harry quickly regained the confidence he had lost after Hyack had almost killed me. I reassured him by reminding him that he had performed a very successful 'expelliarmus' that removed one of my attackers and that he had fended off Hyack's initial attack. To his self-loathing reply that he would have ended the attack once and for all had he chosen 'Avada Kedavra', rather than 'protego', I reminded him that none of the aurors had used a killing curse and that this simply did not come naturally to the good guys. I did not dwell upon the thought of how readily it appeared to come to my youngest brother. Harry grudgingly accepted my view. Another session with Mrs. Granger reinforced the point.

The only other major deviation from election activities was setting up the shop for Mr. Granger. We had Hermione's and Harry's credit cards and some smaller denomination Muggle money from the Ministry. We got two portable generators. One would supply power for the shop, and the other provided power to charge cell phones and power a computer in Professor McGonagall's office. She also had electrical lights installed in her office, courtesy of Mr. Granger.

The shop was equipped mainly with equipment moved from the Granger house, but we also bought a small metal lathe, a high quality microscope, and a very high quality radio transmitter and receiver with what Mr. Granger described as "automatic scanning and signal processing and analysis capability" on which he expected to be able to intercept any enemy radio communications in the area. A computer programmed for encryption/decryption of messages had a twin at the Ministry. At Hermione's suggestion, her dad also bought the school sophisticated ground-penetrating radar equipment.

Both Mr. Granger and Lord Montaigne agreed that the ability of future Wizards to continue to hide in plain sight in the interstices of Muggle society required at least a passing familiarity with the technology that every Muggle took for granted. The same systematization, pervasive licensing, and registration requirements of Muggle society which had driven Wizards to the fringes of the shipping business would soon prevent them from purchasing articles at Muggle stores or even holding title to their own land.

When she heard her father's explanation of the radio receiver's automatic scanning capability, Hermione slapped her forehead and exclaimed, "How stupid could I have been? Of course the Muggle government and probably their friends across the ocean have been listening in on all of our cell phone calls, and using the cell phones to track our locations. We have to avoid saying anything important that can't be couched in innocent terms which won't be recognized as a code. We need to keep the phones turned off, unless we absolutely need them. They've likely already determined the precise location of the Ministry and Hogwarts but, just in case they haven't, nobody should have a phone turned on there. We can establish set times to briefly turn the phones on for important messages. We've fallen into very bad communication habits. We really should go back to using the floo network. Unlike during the war, we're the ones who control it now - at least I assume we do." She promised Harry and the Minister that she would develop a detailed plan and that the phones should stay off in the meantime.

Viktor had visited with Cho twice more before he returned to Germany. She had agreed to come visit him and see Durmstrang at the end of the summer. Viktor was spending a lot of time providing for the Giants and ensuring the protection of their sanctuary. The Grindelwalds had obtained Muggle ownership of the preserve and had used that as one way to control the Giants. Viktor arranged for a German baron, who was actually a Wizard, to acquire the land and provide a perpetual lease of the sanctuary to Durmstrang. Viktor realized that he had been expected to take charge of the German Ministry, and did so. He expanded it to a staff of a dozen: his favorite graduates of the prior year filled most of the new slots. Five of the eight new positions were aurors to investigate alleged crimes in the Wizard community. The other positions were a magistrate, a public prosecutor, and an accountant.

Narcissa had participated in two additional meetings with Lucius, the last of which included Draco. Harry reported that the ice had somewhat thawed. Lucius was very anxious for a resolution of all his present difficulties and had become far more agreeable to Narcissa's wishes, especially since a visit from Lord Montaigne to discuss the unraveling of the New Start Society's records had left Lucius certain that a marriage of Draco into the Montaigne family was never going to happen. There had been serious recriminations about whether the Lord's inadequate supervision of Bruce or Lucius's financial adventuring, which had been shown to involve the use of at least one relocated squib as an associate, was more responsible for the predicament in which they found themselves. Narcissa had suggested that she might return to Hogwarts. McGonagall seemed very pleased.

There was one more bombing, the week before the election, but I should step back to explain it. During my first trip to the Ministry, following our return from Beauxbatons, I observed that the statue which Thicknesse had installed in the Entry Hall, depicting the Wizards oppressing, well really everyone, was gone. Dad promised "a smaller, more appropriate statue will fill the space very soon." The Daily Prophet had echoed some of the Great Family's objection that removal of the statue represented "willful destruction of government property by a substitute acting Minister, who will shortly be turned out of office by right-thinking Wizards and Witches."

Ten days prior to election day, the replacement statue arrived. It was smaller, made of chalk rather than marble, and depicted young Witches and Wizards happily frolicking in a sunlit glen with other magical creatures and what were presumably Muggles. A magical trick had sunlight emerging from the apex of the sculpture to bathe all of the figures in a pleasant golden light.

Of course, the Daily Prophet denounced the replacement sculpture as a "tawdry obscenity, which the Ministry obviously can ill-afford, if this is the best effort they were able to pay for." That criticism was punctuated by a bomb, two days later, timed as the morning rush of Ministry employees had just begun. The size and positioning of the bomb suggested that the perpetrators had not wanted to kill anyone, simply to have ample witnesses to their audacity. Still, half a dozen employees were struck by flying shards of rock and needed treatment. One sustained a head injury which required that she spend a day in St. Mungo's.

The Prophet of course decried the violence, while lamenting "the current administration's inability to extend safety into the Wizarding community as far as the lobby of their own Ministry." Doctor Sprout and Mrs. Parkinson denied any knowledge of the bombing, although Mrs. Parkinson couldn't help adding, "but really, what else could Arthur expect after such a provocation. I hope his next effort is a better reflection of Wizard grandeur… better yet, perhaps he should leave the space empty and allow our administration to find a monument which all Wizards can view as appropriate and inspirational."

Break, break, break

If Harry Potter was actually going to graduate during our lifetimes, the timeline had to be marched along at a more sprightly pace. That is what this chapter does, as multiple weeks of summer break are dispatched. You get the plot elements and not much else. I'd say sorry for that, but it is really a merciful thing to have done.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five – My First Election, But I Can't Vote**

Although I had spent all of my summer helping Harry and Dad get elected, I realized that I knew nothing about the mechanics of voting. It seemed too embarrassing to ask Harry or anyone in my family, so I sought out Hermione a few days prior to the election. Trying to be cool and not reveal the extent of my ignorance I sidled up to the issue, "Hermione, have you found out whether your mother will be allowed to vote? Is there a special procedure that she must follow to qualify?"

"Yes, she can vote. She automatically became eligible when she received her wand. There is no special registration procedure. She's got a wand and is of age, so she'll be voting."

"Does that mean I miss voting by ten days?"

"I'm 'fraid so. Is that what you were fishing for? I thought growing up in a Wizard household and being so close to both the Acting Minister and his Deputy, that you'd know all there is to know about Wizard election procedures. I had to look it up in the library last week. Apparently that is part of Wizard civics and not taught until seventh year at Hogwarts."

"Yes, I was fishing, and yes it is embarrassing. You must realize that I have no memory of a Wizard election. Thicknesse took over by murder. Scrimgoeur took over when Fudge was asked to resign. The Wizengamot chose him. I think Fudge was elected, but I was six at the time and have almost no memory of that election."

"Then there's no reason for you to feel bad about not knowing how it works. Voting will take place in the Entry Hall at the Ministry. There are ten voting spots, arranged in a big circle. Each spot is obscured by magical fog for the sake of privacy. The whole area is surrounded by a magical barrier. Anyone who still carries the trace will not be able to pass through that barrier. Voters are identified by their wands, so that they can only vote one time. To vote, you enter one of the voting areas, where there are three little bronze statues, one for each pair of candidates. You touch your wand to the statue of your choice and your vote is recorded. There are big slabs of stone mounted on each side of where the blown-up statue was. The vote total is automatically updated on those stones. I think we should try to watch from somewhere in the Entry Hall. It should be really exciting to see the votes roll in."

"I guess, although not as exciting as actually voting. That reminds me, my birthday is actually a little before Harry's. Do you think he's been obsessing about my present as long as I've been obsessing about his? I still haven't decided what to do, by the way."

"Don't be disappointed, but I doubt Harry has even thought of it yet. It does take the pressure off you though. You can judge what to do by what Harry does."

"What if Harry forgets? He's never been around for one of my birthdays. What if he doesn't even know which day is my birthday? Should I drop a hint, or just wait and see what happens?"

"That depends upon whether you want to be sure to have a happy birthday or you prefer to set a test for Harry. I don't think you should hint. If you like, I'll casually mention something to Harry."

"Please! Usually for my birthday, Mom made a big family dinner at The Burrow, but we don't spend much time there, now. I don't even know what my family is planning. But yes, I definitely don't want Harry to fail some test and get all embarrassed and shy again. You don't want to make the hint too subtle. We wouldn't want Harry to miss it."

As we headed up to the girls' dorm on the following day, Hermione assured me that Harry had been "good and properly hinted at, but I think he was already aware of the date. Harry isn't the best of actors and he didn't seem at all surprised by my news. He just said 'got it covered' and walked away."

On election day, Hermione shook me awake, while it was still completely dark. "Harry wants to be at the Ministry before the voting starts. I agree, but I want to eat first. It's my first Wizard election and I don't want to miss a thing. Mom will come with us."

I was proud of the positive mood that I carried down the steps from the dorm. Ron and Harry were waiting for us. Both looked wide awake and very excited. "The others are meeting us at breakfast," Ron announced. "We're actually the slow ones."

The table was largely filled when we arrived for breakfast. Professor Slughorn had decided to join us and was seated between McGonagall and Mrs. Weasley. Hermione's Mom, Trew, Neville, Professor Sprout, George and Luna, and even Pansy and Draco all looked like they had nearly finished breakfast. "I'm glad you made it," McGonagall said to Harry. "Just because we won't all be voting for the same candidates, doesn't mean we can't travel to the Ministry together."

"I hope you don't think that I'm voting for my brother," Professor Sprout declared.

"Actually, I was referring to Pansy and Professor Slughorn, but it's perfectly fine if you choose to support your brother."

"Not fine by me," was the terse response.

I think we felt peer pressure to bolt our breakfasts and dash. We traveled to the Ministry Hall by way of McGonagall's floo fireplace. The hall was already quite crowded, although it wasn't quite 6:00 A.M. There were a dozen aurors present, along with an equal number of Ministry workers waiting to guide the arriving voters through the voting process. Already, several dozen Witches and Wizards had queued to vote, presumably Ministry employees.

As we approached the line, an auror made a beeline right to me. "Are you here to vote, Miss?"

"Nope, missed seventeen by a week."

"Then you must stay behind the red lines. It's probably best that you not even be in the Entry Hall today."

Fine. I left our group and moved over against the wall. As the auror turned to Luna, she merely pivoted in place and walked over to join me. At first, I thought the auror was about to follow her, but he thought better of it.

Harry drew a great deal of attention as he voted. For a Wizard in hiding, Draco did a lot of prancing about in the queue and, as he went to and from the polling area. Pansy announced "of course I voted for my Mum," as she left the polling circle and smiled for a Daily Prophet reporter. The reporter had already taken my picture, but hadn't bothered with Harry. Apparently, Slughorn also did not merit his attention. As the Slytherins returned, an excited Pansy informed us, "There is going to be a special 10:30 A.M. edition of the Daily Prophet and it has been strongly suggested that my picture will be on the front page."

We managed to all offer at least perfunctory congratulations to Pansy. Draco seemed to take that as a hint that "we'd best be off back to Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall said it wouldn't be safe for us to tarry at the Ministry."

"And indeed it isn't. The two of you should return at once. Trew and I will catch you up, later."

It was 7:15 until all of our friends had voted and come over to our little piece of wall. The crowd had thickened enough that I couldn't even see the stone with the vote totals from anywhere behind the red lines. Seeing my concern, Hermione commented "only a hundred votes have been cast, but over half are for Harry and your Dad. I must admit that this is much noisier and more crowded than I had expected. Perhaps it would be best to just go up to Percy's office and stop back at lunchtime to check the votes."

Nobody disagreed with Hermione's suggestion, although seeking out Percy might seem unlikely. Harry no longer had any office at all. Nobody voiced the thought, but despite every indication that he would win easily, Dad would still be a worried, nervous wreck as we awaited the election results. He really wasn't at all good company when he was feeling stress. Fortunately Percy's office was far removed from Dad's and it was the last place that Dad was likely to show up at a time like this.

Percy and Callista were reviewing a pile of correspondence as we arrived. There really wasn't enough space for all of us, although Percy seemed perfectly happy to stop his work for a chat. "I dropped by Dad's office after my breakfast meeting with the old lads. Dad's in one of his states. I told him that I'd done a lot of asking about and getting the feel of the community and that he had absolutely nothing to worry about. All he said in return was 'that's just the sort of over-confidence that leads to defeat.' I told him that in any case the die was cast and that a day of worried moping wouldn't get him an extra vote. If he wanted more votes, he needed to stroll Diagon Alley, looking happy and confident and asking the shoppers to vote for him. He said 'honestly, I don't think I'm up for it. Can't project confidence, when I'm not feeling it, but if you see Harry, you might suggest that he put in an appearance in the Alley. So, now I'm seeing you and now you have your marching orders. I know you won't have any problem looking happy and confident."

Diagon Alley it was. Percy gave us a box of bright gold Weasley/Potter buttons to hand out. The buttons had equally bright red ribbons dangling from the bottom. Hermione passed the buttons back to Percy "I'm sure a quarter of the Wizard community will really love these, the other three quarters, not so much. I hope you haven't handed out many of these."

"I took half a box to the Alley, yesterday. I don't see the problem, it's not like anyone doesn't know that both of our candidates are proud Gryffindors."

"And it's not like the other Houses want their noses rubbed in that," Hermione was a bit tart. "How many votes do you think Slughorn gets just because Gwenogg makes an issue of being the only Hufflepuff candidate, ever. Gryffindor smugness is no prettier than Slytherin smugness. We'll just mingle with the shoppers and wish them well, if that's alright with you."

Percy mumbled something indistinct as we were leaving. I knew that Callista would explain the problem to him.

The Alley was very crowded. Obviously a lot of Wizards from the rural villages had decided both to vote and to make a day of it in London. George and Luna hived off from our group, with George apologizing, I think to the absent Lee. "Sorry, really gotta go. Shoulda realized how swamped Lee would be on a day like today. Of course all the Wizards are in town."

That still left a very large group of us to wend our way through the crowd. Looking around, I was a little surprised to see, not only Hermione's Mom, but also McGonagall, Trew, and Professors Sprout and Slughorn with us. Mom had gone off to be with Dad.

We were enjoying ourselves, glad-handing a fairly happy crown of shoppers and asking them to support Dad and Harry.

Even McGonagall was cornering former students and urging them "to vote sensibly, you realize how important this is to our future." We went the whole length of Diagon Alley, through some of the less unsavory side streets, then even chanced to campaign in the very much less respectable side street. We had enough wands that I felt perfectly safe. Perhaps too safe.

I was chatting up an inebriated old dude, who I thought was highly unlikely to vote at all, when my brother shouted "It's Rowle!" I quickly drew my wand and crouched on the ground, to present a smaller target. I didn't get to fire a single curse, although I heard Harry yell 'protego', McGonagall shout 'Avada Kedavra', and Ron scream 'sectumsempra'. Green fire arced down the alley to the place where Rowle had stood. I couldn't tell, but thought he had escaped just in time.

Hermione declared, "he's gone, but he threw a bundle through that shop window."

"Shall we investigate?" suggested Ron.

"We should leave it to the aurors, your father…"

KABOOM! The glass of the shop's windows exploded into the street and a strong, hot wind pressed against us. Fortunately, we were far enough away from the shop that none of the glass touched us. Unfortunately, I could see two injured shoppers lying in the street. We raced to their aid. We were just bending over the victims, when a camera flash went off in our faces. "Thank you all, I think you're going to be our front-page spread," the camera man declared as he vanished. We grabbed hands and a limb of each victim and vanished a second later.

I instantly realized that Harry had disapparated us, and that Dad's anteroom was our destination. Seeing a very startled Dad, flanked by Mom and Prudence, coming to the door of his inner office, I shouted "bomb in Diagon Alley. These are the injured victims."

Dad summoned aurors to take the victims to St. Mungo's and dispatched other aurors to Diagon Alley. Moments later, Shacklebolt had joined us.

"That bloody Rowle again, with a bomb, in Diagon Alley," McGonagall fairly spat the words out at Shacklebolt. "I almost had him. I was halfway through the 'Avada Kedavra' when he flung his bomb away and vanished. At least his victims did not appear to be badly injured. Almost magically, a Daily Prophet cameraman was there within a minute of the bang."

"Sounds like a violent attempt to frighten the voters," Shacklebolt declared "and it sounds like Barnabas Cuffe knew of the attack in advance. You'll still win, man, but this might make it closer. Brace yourself for the special edition of the Prophet." The last remarks were directed to Dad, who had turned rather pale.

It was sherry all around, as we commiserated with Dad and Harry, although in truth Harry didn't seem in need of spirit raising. Shacklebolt permitted only the one sherry, saying "alright, you look sufficiently restored. We must be seen and we must make statements asserting our resolve to bring these villains to justice. Take Harry to Diagon Alley with you, I'll speak from as close to the Entry Hall as the aurors supervising the election will permit. We must show calm and extreme resolve. I know you can do it. Prudence – we'll want Xenophilius to cover this. Best apparate right to his house. Tell him he hasn't a second to spare."

"He's in the Entry Hall, watching the voters," Prudence replied.

"Fine, that's where we're all headed, then. Arthur and Harry can do the Alley afterward."

Harry and Dad returned, just before Prudence came into the office with a copy of the Prophet. "Xenophilius got everything he needed," she informed Shacklebolt. "He promises that his edition will be out within an hour and a half."

Seeing ourselves on the front page of the Prophet, Harry grabbed the paper from Dad's desk, just as a startled Minister Shacklebolt was about to pick it up. This occasioned a hasty "Pardon me, Sir, I just saw my own face on the cover." Shacklebolt took the paper back from him and opened it up on the desk, as we gathered as closely as we could. I had already seen the cover picture and headline:

**Potter – Late and Useless As Usual**

**Bomber Strikes Under Deputy Minister's Nose **

I wasn't close enough to see what pages two and three said, before Shacklebolt told me "you really should step forward, Miss Weasley. It seems you're a celebrity."

**Deputy Minister's Underage Daughter Tries To Vote**

**Auror Forced to Pull Her From Queue**

"Whoa, that's not true at all. I wasn't in line. I knew I couldn't vote," I protested to Dad.

"Don't worry, I suspected nothing untoward on your part, young lady," Shacklebolt both exonerated me and actually patted me on the head. "We know that the Prophet is in bed with our opponents. We also know that they lie, fortunately not terribly convincingly."

It was some consolation that Pansy had been pushed back to a much smaller picture on page 3, under the headline

**Pansy Parkinson Proudly Votes For Our Conservative Slate**

"I didn't expect the Prophet to pretend impartiality," Shacklebolt ended the discussion.

Not long after lunch, Xenophilius arrived in person with the special edition of The Quibbler. The front page held a picture of a very fierce-looking Harry and a Dad who at least looked stoic and resolved. I was less than totally pleased with the headline:

**Potter Vows: I Got Voldemort and Now I'll Get Rowle**

"You inflate Rowle above his station," was all that McGonagall said to Xenophilius, quickly followed by "well, we must get back to Hogwarts. I'm certain that you will be victorious Arthur."

At precisely 10:00 P.M. we learned that Dad and Harry had indeed won the election, and with 60% of the vote. Slughorn got 24%, with the rest going to Doctor Sprout. Mrs. Granger was very pleased to have voted and to join our brief victory celebration. Slughorn was thrilled to have finished ahead of what he called 'the Voldemort slate'.

Immediately after the election, Doctor Sprout submitted his resignation, which was rejected by Dad. Dr. Sprout promised that the Great Families would no longer be allowed to exert special influence at St. Mungo's, while Lord Montaigne vowed to keep the Families in line and make up any shortfall in donations.

Dad felt awkward taking over Kingsley's office after the election, and again apologized to him for having had to replace him on the ticket. Kingsley took it in great spirits, saying again that he would prefer to return to commanding the Auror Corps and completing the cleanout of the bad apples. Despite Shacklebolt's repeated assurances that he had absolutely no problem with the situation, we all sensed that Dad continued to feel guilty, and that this stole what should have been his pride and happiness in being resoundingly elected. I just wanted to be happy and share Harry's success with him, so I told Mom and Dad that it was time for us to return to Gryffindor.

Harry and I, along with the rest of our crew, had barely settled in our common room, when we were summoned by a Patronus to Professor McGonagall's office. "I got a floo message from the Ministry, Potter. You've won. You are now the Deputy Minister of Magic. This presents a certain degree of awkwardness. I'll remind you of the plank in your and Arthur's platform guaranteeing that the Ministry will not exert its influence over Hogwarts. I just want to be clear between us that I am running this school. We've never in all our history had a student who was the Deputy Minister. I hope you won't take advantage of your office while you're at school… don't interrupt me Potter.

"Now then, you are here to learn, and I still expect you to set a good example for the younger students. I'll need to see about getting you an office, with a floo fireplace, so that you are able to communicate with the Ministry and conduct Ministry business in a secure location while you're at Hogwarts. I'm assuming that you'll be spending most of your time here. You don't need my approval, but I expect that you'll let me know, as a courtesy, when you leave the school. I'll obviously make an exception for any top-secret Ministry business, but I'd hate to have you abducted from Hogwarts and be ignorant of that fact when the Minister comes calling.

"I understand that you'll have two Ministry aurors to protect you. I'm glad that Arthur has chosen Bill: I'm looking forward to his doing a spot of teaching while he's here. I'm not going to make any attempt to chaperone you and Ginny, but I'd appreciate it if you avoided obvious displays of affection in front of the other students. Your office can come in handy there, as well as for your more formal Ministry duties.

"I wish you well, Harry. I've always believed you have a great future in Wizard politics. You've just reached that point sooner than I had hoped or believed wise. Still, I have faith that you'll do a very good job as Deputy Minister. I've been impressed by how much you've learned during the weeks of the campaign. I want you to know that I did not exaggerate when I spoke of all the wolves and charlatans who will be waiting to take advantage of you within the Ministry. They are all too real. Watch your back!

"By the way, I think it very wise that you floated the story that the Elder Wand had backfired a second time in the hands of an illegitimate owner. That was a very nice touch. I have the phony wand stored in the hole behind the portrait, where Dumbledore kept the Sword of Gryffindor. Which reminds me: you and Hermione still have a lot of negotiating to do with the Goblins. They've been patient, but their time has come. Now, let me show you to your new office."

"Thanks, Professor McGonagall".


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty-Six – We Settle into a Post-Election Rhythm **

As we went down to breakfast the morning after the election, I was not at all sure what mood the Slytherins would be in. Pansy was remarkably bright. "I'm just proud that Mom stepped forward to represent our side. She didn't win, but the Bruce fiasco was such a huge liability that nobody could have won under those circumstances. I think she just might beat you next time."

Draco's attitude was that nothing unexpected, except for the bomb, had happened yesterday. The sum and substance of his insights was, "it certainly was great to get away from Hogwarts for a few hours. We should plan another excursion."

The owls arrived with our morning papers and the Gryffindors experienced the fall from the elation of victory to the agony of reading about it in the Daily Prophet. I shouldn't have been at all surprised, and yet somehow, I was. The banner headline blared at me:

**Weasley Steals Election**

**Bomb Depresses Turnout of Traditional Wizards**

**New Minister's Daughter Voted Illegally as Did the Daft Daughter of Mr. Quibbler**

**Election Icons May Have Confused Older Voters**

I was initially rendered speechless, finally blurting "I was nowhere near the voting queue, ever! Neither was Luna."

"Of course not, dear," Mom said matter-of-factly. "Don't expect Barnabas to accept defeat happily."

Reading on, I found that the bomb, which half a dozen Wizards apart from our group had observed Rowle throwing, had been a plot by Harry to frighten away "right-thinking elderly Wizard couples." The only evidence presented in support of this blatant lie was that we were "suspiciously on the scene as the bomb exploded." Barely a second ahead of their camera man.

An elderly couple was quoted as saying they "intended to vote for Doctor Sprout and Mrs. Parkinson, but then were shocked to find that they were represented by the bronze statue in the middle, not the one on the right side. The bronzes were so tiny that all we could make out was that one of the figures was a Witch, so of course we touched that bronze. We were deliberately tricked into throwing away our votes."

Barnabas wrote his own editorial, complaining that "even with Weasley's fiscal incompetence, you would think for something as important as the first election of a Minister in over a decade he could at least afford bronzes which are large enough for all Wizards to distinguish." He went on to "hope that our new Minister represents all in the Wizarding community more scrupulously than his handling of his campaign and the mechanics of this election might indicate. Why, I even saw his son handing out campaign buttons which more appropriately belonged at a Gryffindor Quidditch pep rally. Perhaps that is the level of seriousness that we must expect going forward. Still, is it unrealistic to expect our new government to serve more than a single House?"

Xenophilius merely reported:

**Weasley and Potter Earn Well-Deserved Six Years**

Xenophilius said he would be saying quite a bit more in the coming weeks "about what Minister Weasley needs to accomplish during his first months in office." Beyond reporting on the election process and results, the rest of this Quibbler was taken up in an account of the Diagon Alley bombing, a final interview with Professor Slughorn and Gwenogg, and some finger wagging at the Prophet.

Over the following week, I was able to get a much more accurate reading on Harry's feelings from the times that we exchanged whisper thoughts. I felt I could justify mental eavesdropping on the theory that I couldn't be the highly supportive girlfriend that Harry needed and I wanted to be, if I didn't understand what he was feeling. Harry was alternately elated that all his hard work had contributed to a run-away electoral victory, awed concerning the responsibilities that had fallen upon him, worried that he was inadequate to the task, worried about Dad's mood, a bit timid around Dad and especially Shacklebolt (who had become Dad's primary advisor), and a bit indignant that Dad consulted more with Shacklebolt than with him.

He was also afraid that his relationship with Professor McGonagall would be poisoned. He now saw that his unwilling rebellion against her strong advice that he avoid politics for now had borne fruit, and that he was faced with the unavoidable reality that he was simultaneously a very young Deputy Minister and a student at a school with a headmaster who was obsessively on guard for any Ministry intrusion into her prerogatives. It would be fair to say that Harry did a lot of worrying in the weeks following his election.

McGonagall and I agreed on at least one thing – Harry's Hogwarts office was very useful for snogging. McGonagall had installed a really comfy red leather sofa, which we and the rest of our circle put to good use. Its only drawback was that in the sort of overly warm weather which we were now experiencing, bare flesh tended to stick to the leather. Not that I personally ever exhibited much bare flesh, this was more a complaint voiced by Luna.

The aurors saw some changes. Bron Turner was captured by the French Ministry officers days before the election. He admitted to his role in the attack on Shacklebolt and the death of the French Minister. He also revealed under questioning that Bill had tried to protect Minister Shacklebolt. This was consistent with Minister Shacklebolt's recollection. Bill was reinstated in the Auror Corps and never said a word about where he had hidden out. The aurors, whom he had listed as suspect, were all replaced.

Harry picked Bill to head his protective squad, so Bill moved into Gryffindor and promised to finish our advanced apparating classes. He indicated that he had been informed, presumably by Dad, of the nearly fatal error I made during the Battle of the Zuercher Bank. "When I'm finished with you, you will have better situational awareness, and apparating to a safe position from which to counterattack will be second nature to you," Bill promised.

The incursions of the Slytherin poltergeist had greatly increased during the final days surrounding the election. It was looking more and more like a giant snake. Draco and Pansy, who had very definitely become a couple, were facing the intrusion more bravely than I would have expected.

Hermione had taken an afternoon to have another meeting with the Goblin foreman in the castle utility room to exchange further ideas for the settlement of Harry's, and also Ron's and her own, debt to Goblin society. She reported back that it was a more amicable meeting than the initial one, perhaps because it was not burdened with Professor Flitwick's legalisms and was centered more on heartfelt apology and a pleading that the action in question was taken of necessity on behalf of all magical creatures. Hermione suggested that she would bring Narcissa to the next meeting, since she was now the sole owner of the vault in question. The Goblin suggested that it would 'help the resolution of our current problem, if Narcissa signed a statement saying she had no objection to you in particular taking something from her family's vault, and in no way held the bank responsible or liable for the unfortunate event.'

Both of the parent Malfoys had indicated a desire to take up residence at Hogwarts, to escape their nearly solitary confinement and be closer to their son. The other Great Families held both of them and, inexplicably, Doctor Sprout, responsible for the wave of embarrassment that was sure to come. Worse than the embarrassment, for many of the Families, was the prospect of having to pony up more money as restitution to their exiled offspring, never a welcome thought in those circles.

The three Malfoys spent most of a day together, in the Slytherin common room. We tracked them on the Marauder's Map, to make certain they weren't getting up to severe mischief. I don't think any of us ever trusted any of them as much as McGonagall seemed to.

I was now within a day of my seventeenth birthday, the Wizard age of full majority. If I wanted to feel like a kid again, I would have to hang out with the Goblins. Hermione assured me that she felt Harry had picked up on her hints. I certainly hoped so. I was a little ashamed that this meant as much to me as it did. It most definitely did. I was also more than a little surprised that Mom had made no mention of a family dinner. The family was no longer at The Burrow, but must that mean the end of all traditions?


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty-Seven – It Is My Birthday, I Am Of Age**

The best thing to happen during these weeks was my birthday. Harry remembered! He wished me a Happy Birthday and gave me a very satisfactory snog, as soon as I came down the steps from my dorm room. As we broke apart and headed toward breakfast, Harry mentioned that he would be picking me up at 6:00, right after he left the Ministry, to take me out for dinner. He said I should dress up for a nice Muggle restaurant. Harry would answer none of my questions and, with a chaste kiss, departed to the Ministry as soon as he finished his porridge.

True to his word, Harry arrived in our common room at precisely 6:00. He was dressed in a very snappy Muggle summer suit, with a very flamboyant tie. I had gained my first experience with such attire when Dad first became Shacklebolt's deputy. Harry wore fancy Muggle clothes much better than either Dad or Shacklebolt. I was expecting to be apparated to the Ministry for a return visit to Shacklebolt's and my favorite Muggle restaurant in London. Harry had different plans. "I'm taking you into Edinburgh," he informed me. "We're living in Scotland, so we should patronize a Scottish restaurant. Besides, I don't want to run into Shacklebolt. I see enough of him at the office and he'd insist on joining us and paying for dinner. I don't want that."

Well, that was certainly fine with me. I looked forward to finding out what restaurant Harry had selected on his own. He must have done some advance scouting, if he planned on apparating us to the restaurant. Since he was leading me toward McGonagall's apparation pocket, apparently that is exactly what he had in mind. I told myself that if Harry cared enough to remember my birthday and to go to all this effort, I most definitely would love whatever restaurant he had picked out for us.

We stopped a few feet from the apparation pocket and waited. Then we waited a little more.

"We have to wait for Ron to arrive and give us the all clear," Harry explained. "There really aren't any good, hidden apparation spots where we're going. Ron will come just as soon as our target is free of Muggles. I gave us an extra half hour, so we wouldn't miss our dinner reservation."

Ah, more and more mysterious. Harry was holding my hand and I was getting lots of happy thoughts, but no specifics on our destination. Harry was getting better and better at shielding thoughts he did not want to share with me. We only had to wait a few more minutes until my brother popped into the space in front of us, giving Harry a thumbs up.

Harry changed places with Ron and beckoned me forward. He took my hand, pressed his lips to the back of the hand, and we were gone. He was definitely radiating happy thoughts.

My feet touched ground and I found myself in a Muggle bus shelter, with Hermione looking right at me.

"Had to be certain our arrival went unnoticed," Harry apologized. "If a Muggle approached us, Hermione's job was to block the view of our appearance. If you apparate as quietly as possible, the pop really isn't all that noticeable twenty feet away."

"Enjoy your dinner," Hermione urged me, and then she was gone.

"We're going over there," Harry told me, pointing across an impassible divide in the street to a very elegant crescent of old townhouses on the opposite side of the street. We can't just cross, we have to walk downhill, cross the street, and then walk back up. As you can see, it isn't far."

Harry led me almost into a commercial street at the base of the hill, then across our street, and up the hill. We passed a church and then came to the crescent. Our destination was the fourth townhouse we came to. A Muggle couple was standing at the base of the steps leading up from the sidewalk to the door of the restaurant. The woman was watching us. Actually, she was unabashedly staring at us.

As we approached the steps, the woman somehow assumed that she had a right and a duty to criticize us.

"I thought you were coming here. You're over-dressed. This is a restaurant, not a fancy-dress ball. Didn't you just appear out of the bus shelter across the street?" the woman accosted Harry. "Are you dining here? This IS a Michelin star restaurant. The patrons REALLY don't arrive by bus and aren't the two of you awfully young for this establishment? We came by cab. I couldn't help noticing you as I got out of the cab. I thought at first that there was another young woman with you but now I don't see her."

"Nope, just us. There was a girl who got off the bus right as we were arriving. We just ducked into the shelter for a quick snog, before dinner. Don't worry, I think they'll let you in, with what you're wearing," Harry assured her.

The husband, a somewhat rotund, balding Muggle in freshly pressed blue coat, with shiny brass buttons, barely suppressed a chuckle. The obnoxious woman he was with, presumably his wife, sported a very old-fashioned, blown-up beehive sort of hairdo, and was more formally dressed than the man, but not as formally dressed as we were. She seemed totally unamused by Harry. She glared at her husband for having the temerity to chuckle at Harry's retort. The husband had frozen in place, waiting for his wife to stop gawping at what she must consider to be a great spectacle, although I thought we were quite presentable in our Muggle attire. We circumnavigated their bulk and climbed the steps into the restaurant.

I couldn't dispute the Muggle woman on one point. It certainly was a posh location. Looking around, as we had walked from the bus shelter, I had observed that we were in a very posh section of the city. Dad had taken me walking in this neighborhood, years ago, as part of the 'Muggle excursions' he liked to arrange on Saturday afternoons. I was surprised when Harry led us away from the commercial street, despite his pointing here. When Dad and I were last here, this block was strictly posh residences.

I'm quite sure the restaurant hadn't been here on that occasion. Presumably a Muggle townhouse had been converted. The restaurant bore the unusual name 10101. As I pointed to the discrete sign, Harry explained, "Hermione says the name is in homage to Muggle computer scientists, which one of the big investors happens to be. I went scouting for restaurants with Hermione and Callista a week ago. We checked Glasgow, Inverness, and here. No pressure, but they both assured me that you'll love this place. It is very grown up. As you doubtless remember, I promised you that there would be additional excursions this summer."

Now, that did sound promising. I wondered if Harry was going to give me the same birthday present I had planned for him. I reminded myself that Hermione warned me to be tolerant of Harry's lack of sophistication and worldly experience. Likely, he didn't realize that such presents are less appropriately given to your girlfriend than from her to you.

We had only stood at the reception table for about half a minute, when a pretty middle-aged Muggle woman approached us. "Are you dining with us tonight?" she asked Harry.

"Yes, the Minister's assistant made the reservation for me. I think they are in the name of Toms.

I saw that the rotundities had actually decided to enter the restaurant and were now pressed up tightly in back of us, straining to hear what was being said, although there was plenty of room in the entry area. The woman seemed immensely pleased when our reservations were not found immediately."

"Oh you say these reservations were called in for you. Could they be under the name Evans?"

"Yes," Harry answered pleasantly. "They're in the name of Ms. Lily Evans and friend."

I heard the woman in back of us whisper to her spouse "obviously a VERY good friend. Miss Evans looks like a tart."

Harry touched my wrist {[a little uncomfortable, but bold] Just ignore them. Uncle Vernon would call them ill-bred nouveaux. Maybe I should have said that last aloud.}

He didn't have to. Our greeter had switched from "I'm very sorry, Sir, your name doesn't appear on my list," to "I AM very sorry, Sir, I see your reservations were made by the Prime Minister's office. That unfortunately caused a little confusion. Please follow me."

We were led into a long, narrow dining room, with a very odd carpet featuring large butterflies which appeared ready to take off and swarm us. There were five tables against each of the long side walls and a single table at the far end. As we were led through the room, I noticed that the side walls were elaborately papered and a bright chandelier hung in the center of an elaborate white ceiling. It was even more elegant than Shacklebolt's restaurant.

I must have mumbled this aloud, because our escort immediately responded, "Ah yes, Mr. Shacklebolt has dined with us a number of times. In fact, I'm taking you to his favorite table. Oddly, his reservations have also always been made by the Prime Minister's office. He seemed like a military officer."

Oops! I guess I shouldn't have said that.

"Private security service, he manages it," Harry replied. The hostess turned us over to a waiter, who brought us to our table. The waiter motioned us both to sit on the bench seat behind the table, so that we could sit side by side. The tables were fairly close together, but I squeezed in and seated myself, as daintily as I was able. With a magical assist, I could be said to have floated into my chair.

We were alone. I told Harry that I was very glad that he made the effort to find a special new place for us, rather than following in Shacklebolt's footsteps, which I guess he had inadvertently done, in any case. I could tell that Harry recognized that little irony, but he ignored it, commenting instead that he had spoken to Mom and begged her to delay my family birthday dinner for a day, so that we could go off together.

"This is such a wonderful present," I enthused to Harry.

"This is just the dinner, the real present is to come," Harry assured me, puffing up a little as he did so. "I'm told that Muggles traditionally order champagne for celebrations, so I hope you don't mind that, instead of our traditional sherry."

"I'm willing to try 'most anything," I reassured him. "I don't know as much about Muggle customs as Hermione, but Mom had led me to believe that we couldn't order wine at our age."

"Well," Harry confessed, "not following in Shacklebolt's footsteps was not the only reason I picked a Scottish restaurant. In Scotland, we are old enough for wine. Champagne is just fizzy wine." Harry said we would each have the five course dinner with a bottle of the Henriot Brut Rose with the initial course. The waiter gave us each a menu to choose from the very limited offerings for each course.

The waiter was about to leave, when the female half of the rotundities called out to him. "Are you actually going to give them champagne? The girl looks like she's barely fifteen. Check her papers. My husband is a Detective Chief Inspector and we won't stand for any illegality."

Now, that was insulting to someone as mature for her seventeen years as I am. I turned to say something back to her, but the waiter was ahead of me. "The reservation says they're both seventeen. Today is her birthday. Please let them dine in peace, or I'll make you wait until a table opens up at the far end of the dining room." The woman must have made a face that said 'obviously the girl is lying', because our waiter immediately continued, "the reservation was made by Mrs. Harriet Toms in the Prime Minister's office."

This name clearly meant something to Mr. Rotundity, because he tried to hush his wife: "Let it be, Edith. If Mrs. Toms blesses something or someone, then they are truly and undeniably blessed." There was silence, which must have signaled incomprehension, because I barely heard the husband whisper "she's Special Branch… just leave it."

I was happy to leave it, but couldn't help wondering what Shacklebolt had gotten Harry into. I wished that whisper talk worked in both directions, so that I could request an explanation, without alerting our fellow diners. We had generated quite enough attention, already. Perhaps I did have some whisper power, because Harry immediately touched the fingers of my right hand {[annoyed] I'm really sorry that happened. You know that your Dad introduced me to the Muggle Prime Minister. Shacklebolt has also taken me around to meet some of the second-level Muggles who are aware that we exist. It takes a lot of effort to keep Wizards hidden from most Muggles. It can't be done without the help of their government. Mrs. Toms is our contact with the Muggle police. She handles a lot of politically sensitive police matters for the Prime Minister. She is the contact because she is very well trusted by both sides, and because she has a lot of power. The regular police fear her. I don't think she really is Special Branch. Probably just their contact at Downing Street. Maybe their informal boss.}

That was more Ministry business than I wanted to discuss tonight. I turned to the menu and debated our preferred first course with Harry.

For starters, I chose something called 'peanut butter chicken' although the menu listed about a dozen ingredients and the waiter advised me that the although the appetizer's titled item truly was in there, that I would find that it came with an extravagant medley of other tastes and textures. Fine, I'm adventuresome and I enjoy variety. Harry ordered a creamy risotto. His choice had as long a list of ingredients as my own.

With that explanation, I decided that the jerk pork might be a complex enough main course to celebrate my coming of age. Harry chose the trout. That would have been my second choice. Extra ingredients or not, the other choice – meat pie – seemed too pedestrian for this evening. Choices made, I sat back, waiting to be awed.

Harry placed his hand over mine, {[happy but conspiratorial] I'm really sorry that Shacklebolt's name came up. I don't think even Shacklebolt is aware of it, but there is something unusual about this block, which is why we apparated to the bus shelter. You can't get to the back of the building to apparate inconspicuously behind the trash bins. There's a garden in the rear, but entry is denied, and beyond that is a walled-in private park for all of the owners of houses on this crescent. There's a whole series of walls in back of that. It's really secure. I say this, because I got a huge surprise, when I investigated the restaurant. YOU CAN"T APPARATE HERE. I tried from inside the restaurant and from the sidewalk in front. I tried from the sidewalk up and down the street. I tried to apparate into the garden and the private park. No go. It's like trying to apparate inside Hogwarts. I stepped into the road, just as a test, and apparated away no problem. You know we apparated to the other side of the street, but I also was able to apparate from the commercial street at the bottom of the hill. It's just the houses in this crescent, which have apparation barriers. A very powerful Witch or Wizard may live in this crescent. I have no idea whom.}

While that wasn't the dinner conversation I had hoped for, I must say I was truly surprised. It wasn't a totally awful conversation topic – a shared love of mysteries is one of the things that drew Harry and me together, and this was an intriguing mystery. I merely said "that's really interesting, Harry. It might be fun to look into that. It might even be important. Do Hermione and Ron know about this?"

"No. I don't think this is any sort of emergency. I thought it might be fun to keep it as our secret for a while. I certainly wanted you to be the first to know. The mystery is part of your birthday present."

Well, alright then. This was totally fine as a dinner topic, although there wasn't much I could say to Harry, without risking the nosy Muggles glomming onto the topic. It was great to know that Harry realized how much I love a mystery and that he found one and saved it just for me. Interesting food and a new mystery. Harry wasn't doing badly at all at coming up with an acceptable birthday gift. Hermione was right. It was a good thing that my birthday was first and I had a chance to observe Harry's choices. The pressure on me was rising, however.

"I think I'm going to enjoy exploring this," I responded to Harry, before taking a sip of my water and turning my attention back to the restaurant.

The kitchen was separated from the small dining area by a wall of glass, allowing us to watch the cooks at work as part of our evening's entertainment. The restaurant was extravagantly staffed. At the present time, there were five tables, occupied by a total of 10 diners. To prepare our meal, there were six chefs, plus the owner, whom our hostess had referred to as 'chef'. They all seemed to be enjoying their work. There were four waiters and waitresses to serve the four tables. One guy seemed to do nothing but serve bread to the guests. Harry took a single piece. I took two. I didn't know how big the portions would be and I do like to eat.

Harry and I had just buttered our bread and taken a few bites, when another waiter came to the table and dropped off a small glass for each of us. "A spring vegetable trifle to stimulate your palates," He informed us. It was obviously liquid and obviously contained many layers. The waiter quickly explained the layers to us: "mushroom parchment, toasted butter and hazelnut, tomato juice, sweetcorn/peas/onions/cucumbers/gherkin/chives, yoghurt, and peas in mint puree. It was a very interesting concoction. I got to taste each layer both individually and blended with its upper and lower neighbors. It took a little care in how I plied my spoon to get the two or three distinct taste combinations per layer. It was fun. I was pleased at how well Harry had chosen. He had put real thought and effort into this. Hermione might have assisted him, but I knew that she and Ron hadn't eaten here. I was quite sure that Harry had tested the food on a prior day. Seeing that they also served lunch confirmed this view. Harry just wasn't bold enough around girls to risk taking me here, solely on Shacklebolt's recommendation. That was a good thing. I'd hate to think that Shacklebolt was solely responsible for choosing the site for my coming of age dinner.

The champagne was not as much to my liking. I prefer the sweeter taste of sherry and didn't especially like the fizz biting my tongue. I encouraged Harry to drink part of my share of the champagne. That was more efficient, anyway. While Hermione had said that Muggle boys like to get girls a little tipsy to reduce their sexual inhibitions, actually the Hogwarts girls reported the same approach was favored by young Wizards, I realized that it would have to be me getting Harry tipsy, if this date was going to progress us along. I had sipped enough of my champagne to know that this Muggle brew packed a punch. I thought my chances were fairly good, if I could get Harry alone somewhere, when we left the restaurant. Not his office. There'd be too many nosy friends inquiring how I liked my dinner. This required a little thought.

My reverie was interrupted by Harry informing me "I think these are our starters."

Indeed they were. The waiter headed right to our table. Like the vegetable trifle, my starter was also layered. I hoped it tasted as good as it looked. The chef had obviously placed each piece of each ingredient just so on the plate. With so many chefs, I guess they needed something to keep them all busy. They did seem a very jolly crew. As if reading my mind, Harry remarked "I think some of the chefs are students. It must be a great honor and experience to train here."

And to cook for the famous Harry Potter – perhaps I actually was a teensy bit tipsy.

I unpacked and ate my starter in layers, eating away one side of it, so that I could extract items from any layer at will. There was chicken and there was a hint of peanut butter (I was hoping for a bit more), but so much more in terms of different flavors and textures. The dish included prunes, but three different forms of prune – jelly, diced, and puree. Two kinds and textures of bean. It had leeks. It had elements I could only guess at. Really, each fork full was a slightly different nuance of flavor and texture. It was luscious. I ate both savoring every taste and thinking what might be in it and how I might duplicate it myself. I have a very good nose for herbs and spices, but these chefs had used techniques I was not familiar with. I just throw all the ingredients together, without even thinking of how the location of a particular ingredient in the pile might effect the taste. I also had never seen this big-bubble foam that had been applied at one corner of the stack. I stared, wondering why the bubbles didn't break and what contributed to their taste. I suddenly realized that I should be making conversation with Harry. I asked him how his starter was.

"Very interesting and quite nice," he answered. "Here, try this."

He passed me what looked like a piece of crisp, only tan in color. It was salty, as I thought it would be, but it was like all of the salt flavor popped onto one part of my tongue, rather than filling my whole mouth. There was also a taste to the crisp itself, but I couldn't quite identify it. It was truly different. I stole a fork full of Harry's food – delish!

As with the trifle glass, a waiter appeared at our table as soon as we finished our starters and disappeared the plates and forks.

As we awaited our soup, Harry and I amused ourselves analyzing the other diners. Six tables were now occupied. We were over-dressed. One couple, not much older than us – I'd guess twenty-one or two, were wearing jeans and tops which weren't much more than colorful tees. Harry and I played the game 'married or just dating'. I thought the early-twenties couple were definitely dating, maybe just their second or third date. They were drinking wine and she seemed more than a little tipsy. She wasn't a super beauty, but she looked very happy, out-going, and quite frankly, up for anything. I was sure her date would consider his money well spent.

The rotundities were clearly married. They were also barely speaking. Whether this was due to many years of marriage or a little spat revolving around Harry and me, I couldn't say. Harry thought that we were the cause of the tension. "I can tell that she just won't let it go. We have to watch what we say. I think she'll investigate us. She really is an annoying busybody!"

There was another couple, whom we both agreed were dating. He was pushing fifty and she was no more than thirty. She was dressed quite well and a little daringly. He was trying to look not too stodgy in a tweed jacket over a shirt which he had left unbuttoned at the neck.

"He's married!" Harry and I whispered in unison. "And not to her," I finished the thought.

We agreed that the other three couples were married – to each other. They were all mid-forties, plus or minus and did not seem to be Brits. Tourists actually coming to our land for the food! That struck Harry as odd.

The waitress brought our soup, while the bread guy entreated us to take another slice. Harry took his second. I could tell that the soup was too hot to consume immediately. I could also tell that my major test of the evening was at hand. If I was going to slop food on myself, then the soup was the greatest hazard. The waiter had said it was a cauliflower soup, 'with chef's special touches'. I could smell the spiciness.

As we waited for the soup to cool, I had a bite of my bread and noticed Harry petting a metal dog sculpture on the other side of our table. I was amazed that I hadn't noticed the dog. It wasn't tiny, maybe eight inches tall. I found myself drinking a little more champagne.

The soup went down very easily, with a little bread. It was quite spicy. I had found with the summer Indian fare at Hogwarts that I really liked spicy. This soup seemed to have Indian-style spices. The soup vanished as soon as we laid our spoons down.

The main course portions were fairly large and as artistically displayed on our plates as the starters had been. I admit that my first thought about the pork was 'where's the pork?' It was simply hidden under a lot of veggies. There actually was a very ample serving of extremely tender pork. The pork was in inch-wide disks. It had been marinated in a spice-mix, which was new to me. It was tender and very tasty. All of the other tastes set it off very well. There were crisp green vegetables, nuts, pineapple, coconut, and other good things, including what had been described as white and black pudding, which I really didn't know quite what they were. I enjoyed my meal. I gave Harry a piece of pork, as I stole a large bite of his tender trout.

I had pushed my bread away. I was feeling quite well fed and still had two courses to go. As our plates were whisked away and we finished the last of the champagne, Harry and I smiled at each other. He looked happy. I certainly was.

Cheese was next. Harry thought we might like some regular wine with the cheese, so the waiter motioned the wine waiter to join us. We studied the wine list together and agreed upon a glass each of Fernando Castilla Manzanilla. It was quite good and similar to the Muggle sherry which Shacklebolt has served to us at the estate of his Muggle friend.

When Harry commented that he had followed Shacklebolt's suggestion that 'the second least expensive wine on the list is usually good value,' I started to worry that Shacklebolt's name had come up way too much during a romantic dinner with my boyfriend and that, perhaps, he was having too much of an influence upon Harry as well as my father. Shacklebolt's position as super auror had to be a great draw for Harry. Plus, he was a strong personality. I just didn't want to have Harry or my father turn into Shacklebolt. When you got right to the core, there was a lot to put one off about that Wizard's approach to life.

I also couldn't believe I was having a birthday dinner alone with Harry and I was again thinking about Shacklebolt. I was taking my second sip of the wine, when the cheese arrived. The waiter explained the identity and source of each of the dozen small pieces of cheese on our plates. Most were French. Some were made from cow's milk and others were goat cheese. I didn't recognize any of the cheeses or the regions in France from which they were sourced. It was quite a variety and quite a lot of cheese. I was sure that I couldn't eat all of it. I determined to taste every piece. I cut a third off each piece of cheese and tasted it. If I liked it, I ate the rest of it. If not, it stayed on the plate. There were some very strong hard dry cheeses, some mild dry cheeses, some soft and dry cheese, and an almost runny soft cheese. All but one was 'good', but there were only five I enjoyed enough to finish the entire piece. The one cheese which I disliked was moist but very strong. I was surprised that Harry enjoyed that one. I was certain he wouldn't like anything nearly that strong. It was the very dry cheeses that Harry disliked.

It was time for dessert and our waiter arrived with the menu. We had three choices. Harry quickly picked the lemon curd cheesecake tart. I had been determined to pick something different than Harry's choice, so that we could share two selections. If there had been a real chocolate dessert, I would have stuck to that resolve. Since all that was on offer was white chocolate, with a lot of other ingredients, I also ordered the lemon tart. To me, white chocolate is not really chocolate at all. The waiter asked if we wanted anything to drink with our dessert. He said he realized that we were too young for the alcoholic after-dinner drinks, but that we might enjoy their special tea or coffee. We each chose tea.

Ordering the tarts gave us the chance to watch two of the chefs laboring over them with devices that shot flames. I knew that if I liked the dessert and wanted to try to duplicate it that I could make as hot a temperature with my wand.

When the desserts arrived at the table, I saw what all the fire had been for. The top of the tart was covered with a glaze of melted sugar. I could certainly make my wand hot enough to melt sugar. The lemon was very intense, which meant that I really enjoyed my dessert.

As I was finishing my tea, Harry announced "now for your present." He motioned to our waiter and whispered "could you please bring the package now?"

The waiter quickly returned with a long, skinny package. I tore off the wrapping to reveal a brand new Nimbus Ultra broom. This was the latest and greatest professional Quidditch broom. Gwenogg Jones had just acquired one for the upcoming season. I was thrilled beyond belief and let out a little squeal. Harry held my hand, whispering {[pleased] I thought you should be on a level field with the Slytherin Seeker for the upcoming Quidditch season. I'm very happy that you like it.}

Like it, I loved it! And Harry, of course. My joy was quenched by Mr. Rotundity who called his wife's attention to my present and my happiness at receiving it.

"See, Edith, I don't understand why you were so unhappy with the new vacuum cleaner for your birthday. This young lady is pleased to receive a broom and isn't reacting at all like you did."

I was going to explain that this was a really fast broom, but thought it best to take Mr. Rotundity's advice and just leave it. Mrs. Rotundity was not about to just leave it.

"If you look closely, you'll see that the broom is way too fancy to use for sweeping. It's for decoration, to add a rustic, artistic touch to the kitchen. I've told you that, before. Not everything in a house has to be strictly functional. It's nice to have decorator touches. You on the other hand clearly bought me the vacuum for hovering your house. That is not romantic at all. If you want to hear me squeal like that, you are going to have to try a whole lot harder. I can't believe he got her a kitchen decoration. Do you think they actually live together? She's practically a child."

As we were got up to leave, the Rotundities were actually quarreling. How can you quarrel in such a nice restaurant with such exquisite food?

It had been a nice evening, but Harry still had one more surprise for me. "I booked one of their suites for the night. I hope you don't mind."

I didn't mind, but I was very surprised. This was very un-Harry.

Our waiter led us to our hostess, who led us up to the third floor of this lovingly restored old Georgian townhouse. She told us that our room had a garden view, but it was, of course, too dark to see anything through the window. Still, it was a very cheery, bright room. Muggle lighting makes a big difference. Rooms at Hogwarts and in Wizard homes are quite dim at night. You have localized light for reading or whatever you're doing and a raging fire in the cold seasons, but you don't see an entire room totally lit up into the recesses of all its corners as I saw in this room. This was a good thing. With all I had eaten and drunk, I think I would have just drifted off to sleep in a dimmer room. That would have thwarted whatever Harry had planned. He certainly had something planned, or we'd already be back at Hogwarts. I stashed my broom in a corner near the door and waited with interest to see what Harry would propose next.

I was hoping he was planning what I thought he was. The giant bed was the first thing that I saw, when I entered the room and that gave me hope. The bed had a fancy wooden headboard, complete with built-in lighting. On the far side of the headboard was a separate seating area, with a sofa, chairs, a table, and a television, which I certainly hoped we weren't old enough to actually turn on during a one-night stay.

Seeing all the drawers, I told Harry that it was a shame that we didn't have any fresh clothes for the morning. If any of the other couples from dinner were also staying overnight, they would know that we came for the night, with just the clothes on our backs. Somehow that struck me as a little scandalous, then that thought struck me as old-lady thinking.

"Don't worry," Harry assured me. "Hermione gathered some clothes for you from your room. She even bought you something to wear in bed. It's all in the top left drawer over there."

I was sorry for the diversion. Since Harry had pointed, I felt obliged to leave his side and investigate my stash of clothes. I saw that Hermione had bought a very sexy, low-cut piece of nightwear for me, but unfortunately she had chosen it in peach. I have always thought that I looked ghastly in that shade of pink. No matter, this definitely seemed an occasion where less would be more. I could sleep in the buff. I was glad to see that I had a complete set of clean Muggle clothes for the morrow. I was doubly pleased to find that they were ordinary jeans with a pullover top, rather than the over-done attire I was now wearing.

I waited to see what Harry would suggest next and how he would suggest it. I was floored. Harry proposed a joint bubble bath. It was like Hermione speaking to me in a tenor voice. It did at least solve the problem of how I was going to part Harry from his clothes. My first reaction was that the bathroom was really big and fancy, lined with smooth polished stone, rather than the rough stone, plaster, or wood I was accustomed to. My second was that we had never seen each other without clothes in a room even remotely this bright. I must have seemed a little self-conscious, or perhaps Harry did, because he turned a knob on the wall and the room took on a far more comfortable lighting.

Harry was standing four feet from me, but then seemed to kick himself in gear, deciding that a snog would be fine, as we waited for the warm water to build up in the tub. Harry had poured in much of the container of bubble bath salts supplied by the establishment. As we snogged, I could sense Harry's happiness {[contentment, pleasure] I love the warm, soft feel of your skin. I could hug you like this forever. Is the bubble bath supposed to smell that strongly flowery? I can't go to the Ministry smelling like that.}

"Relax, Harry. You can wash the smell off after, or I know a spell that will work. You can go to the Ministry smelling as grimy as you think appropriate."

The bubble bath was very relaxing, almost too relaxing, especially after Harry cupped his hands around both of my breasts. At one point my chin drooped drowsily and I caught a nose full of bubbles, provoking an embarrassing fit of coughing. I could sense that Harry was alarmed by my condition and trying to be helpful. He made sure my nose stayed clear of the bubbles, and then rubbed my shoulders and back, while I calmed down my breathing. As soon as I did, we were out of the tub, grabbing huge, really soft towels. We dried each other, then hurried off to bed before we lost the warmth from the bath.

I let out a little shriek, I was so astounded by how soft the sheets felt. We grabbed onto each other and cuddled together as we snogged. I soon sensed from both the whisper link and Harry's actions that he didn't intend to be any more advanced than this. I reached down, just to check that his equipment was operational, which it was. I suggested to Harry, "I realize that you don't want to progress too far tonight, but do you think we could just rub each other down there."

Apparently not. I got the whisper blast that Harry was uncomfortable with this. I switched my hand to ruffling his hair and he relaxed again. I worried a little, but since Harry seemed quite contented, I realized that Harry was simply Harry and I would have to adjust to his slowness. At least Harry also hadn't worn any clothes to bed. I did think that Harry's slowness in the face of this golden opportunity merited at least some discussion, but feared the awkwardness. Cuddled together like this, Harry was quite literally stripped naked. He would have to practice Occlumency to hide a thought or emotion from me. Fair or not, I pressed forward.

"This is very nice, Harry," I ventured, "but when you brought me up here, I at least half suspected that you planned to, umm, have us catch up with Ron and Hermione. I realize that Witches may be a little more forward than Muggle girls and I don't want to overly push you…"

{[unease, fear he has disappointed me] Muggle girls are plenty forward, at least that's what Dudley says. [should I have said that?]}

"You've been talking to Dudley? I thought you never spoke pleasantly to Dudley."

"I saw Dudley yesterday. He has a lot more experience with girls than I do." {[embarrassed and a little resentful] [attempt at Occumency]}

"I don't want to drive you to Occlumency. I just thought it odd that you'd seek guidance from Dudley."

"I also wanted to talk to him about Grandfather. As Dudley and I talked, I realized how dumb I've been. He asked me the perfectly simple question "is our grandmother still alive?" I first said I didn't know, but then realized that she must be. We agreed to go see her together. Probably this Saturday. You're wrong about Dudley. He was nice to me when he left Privet Drive and he was very glad to see me. Uncle Vernon has not been treating him well." [awkwardness] "That sounds lame to me, too. I really wanted to see Dudley. He had a right to know about our grandfather. I just asked him for some pointers, since we were together. I didn't want to ask Ron. I almost talked to George."

"I can't believe you're following the Dudley game plan."

"No. I started to, but it just wasn't me. Dudley and I grew up in the same house, but I'm not Dudley. Somehow the Dursley attitudes rubbed off more on me than on Dudley."

I couldn't believe that I had voluntarily steered our talk to Dudley. You couldn't get much more romantic than that.

It was a very large bed. I noticed that Harry had shifted a good two feet away from me. At that distance Occlumency was simple. Perhaps Dudley was a good emotionally neutral topic for the moment. "I've heard a little about the Dursleys, but of course I've never met your aunt or uncle. They're well-to-do, and not super old or rural types, so I wouldn't expect them to be extremely, umm, socially conservative."

"You'd be wrong. Uncle Vernon's parents were working class. He clawed his way up in society and his greatest fear is slipping back or being found out to be not quite middle-class acceptable. I was always an embarrassment. If anything shouted 'weird', it was me. The Dursleys preached absolute respectability.

"But I've not been thinking of my aunt and uncle. I really don't want to upset your family. I know I've disappointed you, but this is as far as I can stretch myself at the moment. Right after breakfast, I'm going to be at the Ministry seeing your father, and he's my boss. And your Mom is almost like my Mom, and Ron…"

Even at a distance of two feet and with whatever Occlumency skills Harry could bring to bear, I still got a strong sense of unease, bordering on dread. "I get it Harry. Really, I'm not disappointed. You amazed me quite a bit tonight, in a lot of ways. This was all a big step forward for us. I'll just reassure you that my family won't be nearly as upset as you fear they will."

I felt a strong wave of relief from Harry. "Let's just relax, cuddle, and get some sleep," I sealed the deal. It was a very nice cuddle, with Harry snuggled up against my back and bottom and his hand alternately cupping my left breast and patting or squeezing my bottom cheek. It felt very nice and emotionally warm, but despite what seemed like obvious cues, Harry's thoughts said there was no chance he was progressing further. I told myself to simply enjoy the cuddle, which I did, and we were soon asleep.

We woke with the rising sun. The view out the window was very pretty. A bright and well-tended garden of flowers and vegetables was sandwiched between two brick walls, with a grass walk down the center and stone steps up to a stone wall at the end. Ritzy or not, this was basically a row home, so the garden was very narrow. I could see trees and the park Harry had mentioned. Beyond the park was another wall. I looked out the window for several minutes, calling Harry over to share the view. Harry was feeling very happy once again. We took a quick shower together and I performed the promised spell upon Harry to clear the flower scent.

We went down to the second floor for an intimate breakfast, without the Rotundities. Only one other table was occupied. We had eggs Benedict, toasted brown bread with sweet butter and strawberry jam, coffee, and orange juice. I wasn't in the mood for the orange juice, but the rest of breakfast was great and Harry was chatting freely, mainly about having enjoyed last night, hoping I enjoyed my birthday, and then planning his morning at the Ministry.

Remembering the mystery Harry had presented to me, I asked our waiter if we could just briefly set foot inside the private park? No. Well then, could we take a brief walk in the back garden and look at the flowers? No, the garden was accessed up steps from the basement or through the kitchen and liability and health inspectors were a concern. We were invited to take a closer look from the second floor window. That wasn't much help at all.

Harry just shrugged, as if to say 'I asked the same questions two days ago.' We talked some more about what reaction we might expect upon our return to Hogwarts. Would my Mom be upset? She most certainly would not. What would George and Ron say? Expect some pointed joking.

This ended with a question of how my father would react if he learned of our night together. I assured Harry that it would be fine, I was of age and Dad knew that Harry and I were very serious about each other.

Break, break, break

A longish chapter, but a Witch's seventeen birthday is a really big deal and had to be treated as such. The restaurant in question does go by number and that number was changed to protect the innocent.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight – Calton Hill**

Harry had a few words with the on-duty waiter, we ducked up to our room for my broom and yesterday's clothes, then it was off for the return to Hogwarts. As we walked down the hill, I noticed that there were far more Muggles on the other side of the street, near the bus shelter, than there had been when we arrived last night. I pointed that out to Harry.

"Yes, you're correct, that's definitely not going to work," Harry agreed. We need a more private spot."

As we continued down the hill, I noticed a path next to the church, which seemed to lead up the hill behind the crescent of houses where we had stayed. There was even signage suggesting that the path led to a destination other than the rear of the church. I didn't know that we wanted to visit the art gallery the sign was directing us to, but took encouragement that it was there. I then saw a sign labeling the hill 'Calton Hill' and showing a map of paths through what appeared to be a public park on the opposite side of the wall from the private park. My mind was made up.

"Are you up for a climb?" I asked Harry. "There will certainly be a quiet disapparation spot somewhere among the trees on that hill. It will give us a chance to view the back yards and the private park from a different angle. We also can experiment to see if there is a spot on the path from which we can apparate into the park. Perhaps the apparation barrier only extends to the sidewalk and the houses themselves."

"Alright," Harry agreed, "but we have to be very careful in daylight. We could be very visible from the windows of the houses and a Muggle could surprise us on the path."

"Good. I must say that other than that elderly dog walker, who attracted my attention to the path, I've not seen a soul using it, last night or while we've been standing here. My memory of the view from the windows is that the trees and the wall block the view of most of the park. I don't think we could be seen."

The path started with long shallow stairs, but quickly became steeper. The length of the individual steps made walking a bit awkward with my short legs. Harry was having less difficulty. The wall was on our left and a fall-off to a woody, shrubbed hillside was on our right. Unfortunately the wall was too high to see over. The path was barely wide enough for us to walk side-by-side. I was close enough to Harry to sense his excitement. There really is nothing quite like unexpectedly stumbling upon a mystery in unlikely circumstances. An apparation barrier in a posh section of a big Muggle city was astonishing. I was familiar with Grimmauld Place, but it did not have apparation barriers and its magic did not cover extend to a large city block. The only comparables which came quickly to mind were Diagon Alley and the Ministry of Magic. McGonagall had said that some of the old Great Family trading Wizards had located in Edinburgh. Perhaps we had found their lair. I really was excited.

I was counting the steps as we climbed. If we found something interesting, I wanted to be able to remember exactly where it was. We climbed the hill very slowly, not because the climb came close to challenging my athletic limits, but because I insisted upon stopping at every third step, and trying to apparate to just on the other side of the wall. It just wasn't working. We were a fair distance from the houses of the crescent and yet the barrier could not be penetrated. On step twenty-one, I had a suggestion for Harry. "It would really be a simple thing for me to climb the fence. Or we could just levitate ourselves a few feet and peer over it. It's boring staring at a blank stone wall."

"No and no," Harry was adamant. Someone might see us. We drew enough attention to ourselves, with the rotundities at dinner last night. I'm sure that woman won't be able to just let it lie, even if her husband is afraid of Mrs. Toms. I think it would be really foolish to climb over the wall. We'd be in an unfamiliar place, where we couldn't apparate to safety, if we had to. Anyone powerful enough to maintain an apparation barrier over this much land is also powerful enough to have hidden guards and traps on the other side of this wall. It's just too dangerous and we don't have a need, other than curiosity, to explore the park. Wait until we know more. If you're bored, we can change places and you can look down the hill."

Really, it's quite alright, Harry. You can be as big a party poop as my parents, sometimes. I went back to counting steps and trying to apparate from every third step. Harry did have me a little worried that if I found just the right step from which to apparate to just the right unprotected pocket on the other side of the wall, that I might find myself in a very serious trap. I limited myself to just 'feeling' whether it was possible to apparate. It wasn't.

"I do have a safe experiment that I'd like to try," I suggested to Harry. "I think it would be safe to try to apparate from where we are standing to one of the steps that we've come from. I want to know if the apparation barrier covers the steps we're standing on or just my intended landing zone inside the private park."

"That sounds safe enough," Harry agreed. "I don't see anyone else on the path. Go for it."

"I did a line-of-sight apparation nine steps down the path and quickly apparated back to Harry's side. The barrier is just on the other side of the wall," I needlessly informed Harry.

Step twenty-seven was different. The wall was broken by a bricked-up archway, as if there had been an entrance to the private park from this point. I was so obviously excited to try apparating from this point, that Harry looked very worried as he cautioned me.

"Remember, you are just going to 'feel' whether it's possible to apparate. Please don't actually do it. I smell a trap."

To be honest, I did too. I leaned my shoulder against the bricks and felt with my mind for the other side. I could tell that the barrier was firmly in place. There was a lot of graffiti on the bricks, but my eye was drawn to a little black up arrow on a short curb at the base of the bricks. I stood right next to the arrow and again tried to apparate. No go.

Harry sensed my disappointment. I pointed to the arrow and he shook his head. "I don't think the graffiti means anything. PG-13 is an American movie rating. This writing was left by demented tourists. 'MMOVEMO', what can that possibly mean and this blue and white drawing means nothing to me. I don't think that black arrow has any more meaning.

"We could just magically remove the brick above the arrow," I suggested.

"Too dangerous, there might be an alarm spell. This place is just too strange, I have the sense that we are being watched. Can't you feel it? I agree that this bears more investigation, but at a future time, when we have more wands with us, or at the very least have friends who know what we were up to, when we went missing."

Actually, I almost could feel it, in the hairs on your arms standing up at attention sort of way. I reluctantly turned away from the brick barrier and resumed my climb

It took a long time to reach the top, stopping at every third step to test the barrier. As we progressed up the hill, we found ourselves looking up a grassy bank, rather than down into a gully. I did see dog walkers on a path, which obviously traced the summit of that hill. Harry saw them as soon as I looked that way.

"We're way too obvious," he told me. "You must look like some weird asthmatic teenager who has to stop and rest after every three steps. No more testing the barrier. Let's just see where this path leads."

We climbed past a number of locked, solid-metal doors in the wall. Our bricked archway was obviously a replacement for one of these metal gates. I found that difference more significant than Harry did.

"Muggles don't always fix everything in a quality way. Bricking up the arch was probably a lot cheaper than buying a new metal door. They certainly wouldn't be a stock item from a store."

Our path sort of joined up with the broader public path at the top of the grassy bank. I say sort of, because we had to step into a two-inch deep puddle of muddy water to cross from one to the other.

The view from the path, which was almost at the summit of Calton Hill, was spectacular enough to make the climb worthwhile. To my right and steeply downhill, I could see the wall, bits of the private park behind the wall, the wall on the other side of the park, the rear of the houses on the crescent, a bit of the back yards of some of them, the rear of the church, and even buses in the vicinity of the shelter to which we apparated yesterday. I studied all of this in detail and tried to store it in my brain. I didn't see any obvious clues, but had no idea what might be valuable for future planning. Ahead of us, I could see a broad swath of Edinburgh buildings, leading all the way out to the sea. On the left and arrayed about the summit of Calton Hill, was a domed building, a larger building with a dome at its rear, a ruin with intact columns, and an obelisk. I regretted that we had insufficient time to explore them. Undoubtedly one of them was the art gallery, mentioned by the sign, which led me on this trek. Right behind us I could see a taller hill or short mountain, which was bare craggy rock.

We returned in that uphill direction, once more waded across the puddle, found a sheltered depressed spot to lie in, and apparated to the McGonagall spot just inside the Hogwarts fence. We got up, dusted ourselves off, and went in search of Hermione and Ron. We found both of them in the common room, along with Mom and George. Apparently Hermione wanted a chat, because Ron and George neatly cleaved off Harry and steered him into the far corner.

"You probably want to drop that back in our dorm room," Hermione suggested, pointing at the canvas bag, which held my crumpled up formal clothes. Under Mom's glare, we raced up the stairs to the girls dorm.

We hadn't even reached the top of the stairs, when Hermione demanded "tell all."

Perhaps not all, but I certainly told her an awful lot, including my irritation that Harry and I hadn't caught up with Ron and her. I even hinted at how annoying I had found it that Harry chose to solicit advise from Dudley. "I mean, Dudley doesn't know me at all – he's never met a Witch in his life. He's got very creepy parents, not understanding parents like I have. It would have been so much better if Harry talked to George instead. George understands me and our family. Getting advice from Dudley is like treating me as some anonymous female commodity. I know that's not really fair. Harry was very thoughtful and he picked gifts that were truly personalized. I did feel really valued. It's just frustrating that Harry is as slow as he is, especially when we had such a golden opportunity. Once that is highly unlikely to come again anytime soon. Harry is just so worried that Dad will be upset, but I know that he won't be."

"But he is, upset that is," Hermione warned me. "He sent a floo message to your Mom, unfortunately by way of McGonagall, who read it, that he wants to see you and Harry 'as soon as you deign to show your faces again. And by the way, he wishes you a happy birthday."

"Just great!"

Not wanting to rush down to Mom and then Dad, I took some time filling Hermione in on the latest mystery. After spending a little time convincing her that it wasn't just something that Harry had made up to amuse me, she pronounced it "very strange indeed, and something we will all need to investigate. I'll do some research on the Wizards of Edinburgh. Now you really do need to face your Mom."

Mom was still sitting in the common room, waiting for me to come down. I could tell that she hadn't accosted Harry. I walked right over to her saying, "Hermione said you want to speak to me, or rather Dad does."

"I'm not upset," she reassured me. "I said that I trust you and Harry and I do. By that, I mean that Harry would never intentionally harm you in any way and that you are mature enough to direct your own life and make wise decisions. Your father does worry. You are his only daughter and he is having some trouble adjusting to your new adulthood. Your two near brushes with death have not increased his ease or his sense that you are as mature as your years. No… don't argue with me. It isn't right or wrong. It's simply how your father thinks and I know that I am interpreting him correctly. Now, you and Harry really do need to go and visit him. Please act maturely. He is not fond of your flippant side."

Okay. You think you understand your parents and then you learn that you were very wrong. They aren't exactly as you thought they were. How could Harry have a better read on my own father than I did? That was truly unsettling. Harry had been talking to Ron, but covertly watching Mom and me, sensing that something was up. I just walked over to him with a less than happy expression and said "Dad wants to see us and I don't think it's to wish me a happy birthday."

As we walked to the apparation pocket, I could literally feel the unease flowing off Harry. He had to work with Dad. He was not looking forward to this meeting. My expectations had put Harry in a bad position. I didn't think there was any valid reason for me to feel bad, and yet I did.

At least Callista was smiling today.

"Good Morning, Deputy Minister. I was expected you to arrive alone, but since Miss Weasley is with you, I'm quite sure that the Minister wants to see both of you in his office."

Callista said this in what I felt was a perfectly even tone, but Harry knew her better than me and immediately replied "Is it that bad?" Callista's look confirmed that it was.

Prudence waved us right into Dad's office, absent her normal smile. I was starting to feel a little alarmed. Dad's scowl sealed the deal.

"I'm very disappointed in both of you," my father began. "Your behavior last night was the height of irresponsibility. I had hoped that you could be trusted to behave appropriately."

Harry was registering alarm and I could tell that he was marshalling his response. Before he could open his mouth, I jumped into the void "Nothing really happened, Dad, and besides, it was my seventeenth birthday. I'm of age."

"So, nothing happened. In that case it must be just my imagination that the Muggle Prime Minister commented that his office had received a telephone complaint from the wife of a police official, complaining that his office had arranged for an underage youth to buy spirits for his even more underage girlfriend and then carry her off in a drunken state to take advantage of her. I must also have imagined that you actually whipped out a Quidditch broom in a dining room filled with wealthy Muggles, or that Harry pretended to be part of the Muggle Special Branch and a specially blessed friend of the Prime Minister.

"I guess I also imagined that Harry was throwing around money in a totally imprudent fashion that could be expected, by any responsible pair of adults, to draw great attention from the Muggles. I could also have imagined that my daughter behaved like a tart and insulted this respectable married Muggle and her high-ranking husband. I could have imagined all of that, but I know I'm not imagining the evidence of my own senses. My Deputy Minister smells like a flower garden! What do you have to say for yourselves, and I don't want to hear from you, just yet, Ginevra."

"I'm very sorry if the Muggle Prime Minister is angry or thinks that I behaved inappropriately," Harry replied with extreme contriteness. "I assure you that neither of us insulted what was a truly rude Muggle woman. I don't think anyone thought there was anything unusual about the broom, merely that it was a very cheap gift. I used my credit card at the restaurant. I did not flash a lot of money. I did not misrepresent myself. I never mentioned Special Branch. Neither Ginny nor I was even close to drunk. I think our manners were impeccable and the waiter seemed to like us and noticed nothing unusual. I most certainly did not take advantage of your daughter. I would never do that! I didn't realize that I still smelled like flowers. I tried to wash off the bubble bath and Ginny used a special charm. How angry is the Prime Minister? He seemed perfectly happy to help me set up the reservations, just as Director Shacklebolt suggested."

"The Prime Minister was more amused than angry. He told the caller that you and Ginny were rockers, whom he expected to help Britain's export economy. He told me that his caller was not totally credible, but you've confirmed the outlines of what she said. You undoubtedly stood out. You undoubtedly spent the night with my daughter at an expensive Muggle establishment. Not many Muggle seventeen year olds, if any, would do that. You were by far the youngest guests that night. The Minister did check with your waiter, who reports that you were both polite and well behaved, although he also was struck by the strangeness of the broom. What if the Prophet had discovered the two of you?"

"I thought that unlikely. That is one reason I picked Edinburgh. I certainly did not take Ginny to 10101 to cause political trouble or without thinking what I was doing. I know how significant a Witch's seventeenth birthday is, and wanted to be sure that I didn't disappoint Ginny. I wanted to do something quite different from our normal Hogwarts routine and more adult than a family dinner. It's really difficult to know the appropriate thing to do in this sort of situation. Ginny will only turn seventeen once."

"I certainly agree that your night was more adult than a family dinner. That doesn't make it proper. I think you also chose this establishment, because you could legally buy wine."

"I won't deny that. We had wine when we went to the Muggle restaurant in London. You didn't object."

"That's different. I was there and could supervise. I hear your explanation and accept that you acted in good faith, but you did not act in the way that I expect from my Deputy Minister or from Ginny's boyfriend. I just don't like it! Ginevra – what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm of age. We did nothing wrong. Nothing, I repeat, nothing really happened. I wish it had, but it didn't. I am sorry that we unwrapped the broom in the dining room. I admit I knew it was a broom as soon as I saw it and I should not have removed the wrapping. I was not drunk. I was not insulting. I minded my manners. You and Mother were married when you were the ages that Harry and I are today."

"Yes, but that was a different time, your mother and I were nobodies then, and you and Harry aren't married.

"I won't belabor this, what's done is done. Harry and I have a lot of work to do today. Bruce's trial must be rescheduled and it will start soon. Rowle is still on the loose. You should go back to Hogwarts. I'd prefer if you would explain this mess to your mother, yourself. I really don't wish to do it."

"You should know, Sir," Harry stopped me, before I could reply, "that Ginny and I discovered a most significant mystery at 10101. The entire block of townhouses was…"

"I just don't want to hear that particular diversion at this moment, Harry. If it is truly important, then you can tell me at a more appropriate time, when I am not focused upon my daughter's misbehavior."

"I think it is VERY important Sir…"

"NOT NOW, HARRY!"

"Okay, I'll mention it to Kingsley."

WOW! Just wow! Misbehavior? You think you have a tolerant, understanding father, and then you get blindsided. I was happy to be going back to Hogwarts. Mom would understand. I'd ask her to explain to Dad. I did feel bad, abandoning poor Harry to my father's anger.

I couldn't find Mom. She wasn't in Gryffindor or with the other professors. The headmaster said "your mother has business away from Hogwarts. She didn't say where she was going, but told me she'd join us for lunch. I would have thought you'd be happy to avoid your parents for the moment."

Really! This was intolerable.

I didn't really want to wait until lunch, but had no choice, so it was off to the library to find Hermione. I ran into George and Luna on the way to the library and they led me into a classroom for a chat. "Spill!" my brother demanded. "How was your night with Harry?"

"And how do you know that I had a night with Harry. He told me he didn't mention it to you?"

"He didn't, although I certainly could have helped him out. The Weasley Wonders we sell are not all for school kids, we're branching out into a more adult line. If Harry has certain problems…"

"Harry does not have a certain problem. I know that for sure. The only certain problem that Harry has is our father. What did Harry say to you?"

"Oh, Harry may not have said anything, but we talked about nothing else with Hermione and Ron last night. I wouldn't be surprised if Callista mentioned something to Percy."

Just great! "I didn't expect Hermione to be a gossip. I have no regrets, but I also didn't plan on making an announcement to the press. Harry is a little slow and shy. Dad knows about last night and isn't at all happy."

"Sorry, Sis, I didn't realize it was such a sore subject. I certainly would never tell Mom or especially Dad. You know Hermione and Ron wouldn't tell either."

"Who wouldn't we tell?" Ron spoke from behind me.

"Dad," George answered portentously. "He is not pleased with our little Sis. He apparently thinks she's a slut."

"I'm sorry," Hermione caught on fast. "I mentioned it to Luna. I assumed Harry had spoken to George, since he talked to Callista and me. Ron felt left out. How did it go with your father?"

"As badly as you could possibly imagine. I am under instructions to explain the story to Mom, because it is apparently too painful or shameful for Dad to tell her himself. Harry really worked at this. He really put himself out there for me. Now I'm worried that Dad's reaction is just going to slow Harry down even more. I admit that I was stunned that he got advice from Dudley."

"Dursley?"

"Yes, Harry says they're going to visit his grandmother together. Harry tried to tell Dad about a really important mystery that we discovered in Edinburgh, but Dad just thought Harry interrupted to prevent me from saying something stupid. It's probably a good thing he interrupted. I was not at all pleased with Dad. I might well have said something that would have made the situation worse. Harry has to spend the rest of the day with Dad."

George and Ron insisted upon the full details of my mystery and I was only too happy to oblige.

Mom arrived late to lunch, telling Ron "slide down to the end dear, so that I can sit next to your sister. It is Ginny's birthday, after all."

"Is that why you want to yell at her?" Ron responded, but he did move.

"I understand that you have a story to tell me," Mom began. "I suspect I know the gist of it, because your father told me 'your daughter has corrupted the morals of my Deputy Minister'. He was so upset that he was talking daft."

"When did you see him? I had hoped and expected him to be thinking of events more sympathetically by now."

Mom was about to respond, when I was startled by a very large owl landing smack upon my lunch plate. "Special Ministry courier," Mom commented, "they're bred for strength and speed."

I unfastened the message from its leg. It was twisted too tightly to be a howler from Dad. I quickly unrolled it and saw at once that it was from Harry.

_Hi Ginny,_

_I told you that we're going to The Burrow for your family birthday celebration tonight. Wait for me at Hogwarts. We should travel together. Your father is still angry. He even yelled at Shacklebolt and blamed him for facilitating his daughter's foolishness. Shacklebolt explained that two aurors were protecting us the whole time, but your Dad just complained "they didn't do much to protect my daughter. They should have shipped them both back to Hogwarts and notified me." He was also muttering that he thought he could trust your mother to provide satisfactory supervision, since we were all at Hogwarts. I may be a coward, but I don't want to travel to The Burrow alone or with your Dad. I've had a very unpleasant start to the day and he hasn't allowed me peace to focus on work at all. By the way, Shacklebolt thinks that our mystery is serious business. He was especially concerned, because he has eaten and stayed at 10101 several times. Now he thinks he may have narrowly escaped a trap._

_Love,_

_Harry._

I passed the message to Mom. She frowned as she read it, then stared, then finally commented "things are bad, if he's actually yelled at Shacklebolt. I'll speak to him, dear."

I told Mom the story and she didn't think it was so bad, except for the part with the broom. She remarked "your Dad can be oblivious, then the obvious strikes him as a great, scary revelation and he over-reacts." She looked away from me towards George as she concluded, "I wonder what your father thinks his son is up to with another Wizard's equally young daughter?"

I hated myself later, but I blurted out "Luna's two weeks younger than I am, Mom." I apologized profusely, claiming a brain cramp, but both Luna and George were a little cool for the rest of the day.

Harry met me in our common room at 5:30. I said "Mom is cool, she'll talk to Dad."

I sensed Harry's unease as he replied, "good, because your dad is definitely not pleased. It has been a dreadful day at work, for Shacklebolt as much as me. Even Bill and his partner were criticized by your father and told that their performance as aurors was, and this is a direct quote, "clearly derelict." At first he complained that I was wasting Ministry funds to give Bill and Barb a swank meal and room. Then, when he learned that I paid for their part of the bill, he said he wasn't happy with his daughter dating a wastrel. I told him that this was one very special occasion, but he didn't seem convinced. Shacklebolt tried to defend us all, but your Dad turned on him too. If it's possible to be the only daughter, but not the favorite daughter, that's pretty much what you are at the moment. So, we get to look forward to what I'm sure will be a unique celebration of your birthday at the Burrow, tonight."

My official family birthday dinner was more subdued than I would have predicted just a day ago, but not quite as bad as Harry suggested. Mom was great and clearly had spoken with Dad. She stared him down a couple of times, when it looked like he wanted to renew his complaints about me. Dad had stopped huffing, but would occasionally give me, or Harry, or even Mom 'The Look', while pretending to be cheery. Mom must have had a long and full discussion with him, because George and Ron were also treated to 'The Look'. It did help not to be alone. He did not hide a 'humph' when Mom declared at the end of dinner, "my little girl is now a fully mature Witch and a very capable one, at that." Other than that, the food was good.


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter Twenty-Nine – Our Calendar Fills Up **

The aftermath of my various birthday celebrations messed up the rhythm of the next few weeks. Harry was less demonstratively affectionate toward me and returned to Hogwarts from the Ministry more tense than he had in previous weeks. I knew that he and Dad weren't in as happy a place as they had been prior to my birthday. Logically, I couldn't really blame Harry for pulling back a bit. He had really extended himself on my birthday and Dad had slapped him down. Worse, I had assured Harry that Dad would be fine with everything. I really thought that was true when I said it. It was horribly unfair. I had hated that unfortunate meeting in Dad's office, but in the eight days since then, I had seen Dad not at all. Harry had spent at least an hour or two with Dad on seven of those days, while I dealt with reasonable Mom. I winced when I thought of Ernie. He hadn't lasted one week working for his father. Dad had admitted that he couldn't work for his own father. How much worse to be forced to work with for your girlfriends unhappy father and to do so with the Daily Prophet watching your every move? Perhaps Harry had a foreboding of the problems ahead when he was reluctant to run for Deputy Minister. How stupid was I to urge him to sign on with Dad. Did I not know my own father?

Harry's birthday was on my mind. What could I give him at a time when we almost seemed to be drifting apart and Dad was keeping a tight watch on us? My intended present for Harry's birthday was clearly a no go and I was at a loss what to do. Harry was dropping no hints. I knew that I wanted to cook dinner for him. I had spent a few hours with Mom, practicing some of what I suspected were the tricks and recipes from 10101. I knew I could do the lemon curd cake. I knew I couldn't do the tasty froth or crisps. That left an awful lot in between and not a lot of time left. As for a tangible gift, I hadn't a clue. I couldn't possibly match the super broom which Harry had gifted me with, but I should be able to come up with something suited exactly to Harry's personality and needs. I had expected that Harry would just know what to get me, if he truly loved me, and he had passed the test. I was flunking the same test. And how could I even think in terms of a birthday gift test with a boyfriend who had told his dead mother that he was going to marry me? It was all very confusing and Harry's recent distance wasn't helping at all. The best thing that I could give Harry was to make my father a lot more understanding. Problem is, that's not something you can wrap up and tie a bow to and not something I know how to accomplish. I was chatting to Mom about it but getting nothing back other than "your father just needs some time to adjust."

I just hoped that Harry and I had enough time for that to happen.

I worked with Hermione on my new mystery. I suspect that Harry included this mystery among my presents so that I would have something to do, while he was at the Ministry. He couldn't have expected when he gifted me that our relationship would be in as low a state as I now found it. As Hermione and I drudged through the paper chase part of the investigation, it sometimes almost seemed to be make-work assigned by Harry. I wanted to solve this with Harry at my side, or Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Hermione was friendly, pleasant, and an excellent researcher, but she wasn't Harry.

We identified a few families with current or prior ties to Edinburgh. These included the McGonagalls, the Parkinsons, the MacNairs, the Crouches, the Montaignes,the Scrimgouers, and the Bones. Doubtless there were many more, Hermione and I checked the Wizard names most familiar to us. It was difficult, because Wizard families who weren't even from Scotland originally had made their way to Edinburgh for business reasons or apparently merely to escape feuds with families in England. It was easier to anonymously rent an apartment or even buy a house in a large city than to anonymously buy or rent enough land to farm near a village. If you wanted to hide in plain sight, then a big city was the place to be.

I followed Hermione into official Muggle Edinburgh to check the ownership of each of the townhouses on the crescent, which housed 10101, starting with 10101 itself. This was difficult. Many of the buildings were owned by businesses, many of whose owners were difficult to identify. The owners of 10101 were the chef and his wife, who had been our hostess at dinner, and a shadowy group of investors tied to a computer gaming company. Not shadowy as in we could tell they were dodgy, shadowy as in we couldn't identify individuals other than the creative director of the gaming company. He had been written up in a Muggle magazine, which mentioned that he and some of his software buddies had invested in this bright new restaurant.

It was a time when I saw less of Harry than Callista or my brother Percy did. Harry and I had breakfast together with the rest of the gang, then Harry apparated to the Ministry, where he worked until mid-afternoon, returning for our dueling practice. Dueling practice had grown to Ron, Hermione, Neville, George, Luna, and Bill, in addition to Harry and me. We walked outside the Hogwarts gate and fought along the pathway to the rail stop, so that the Hogwarts defenses didn't prevent fast-apparation dueling. We popped behind bushes, up to the tallest branches of trees, retreating all the way to the rail tracks, then back in a fierce counterattack. We fought as teams of four, so that we could realistically prepare for another actual battle, such as the one at the bank, where my error nearly killed me.

We debated what attack curse to use. Hermione was afraid that if we just used 'expelliarmus' that this is what would come naturally to us in the heat of an unexpected battle, and that we would be at a disadvantage. This was Harry's weakest curse and one that left an attacker free to apparate ten feet away and retrieve his wand. We needed stopping power – something that wouldn't allow a baddy to almost immediately return to a fight. On the other hand, we couldn't use 'Sectumsempra', without half killing each other in practice. Since the 'Avada Kedavra' was illegal, Hermione was doing her best to drive all memory of it from my brother's brain. We decided to use 'petrificus totalis'. Harry was comfortable that he couldn't permanently harm anyone with this curse and it got the job done in a lawful manner. I was very pleased that Harry's mental balance with regard to wand fighting was almost fully restored.

I feared that the upbraiding from Dad had left Harry reluctant to be as demonstratively affectionate as he had previously been, especially when anyone else was around, even Ron and Hermione. If I wasn't able to pick up his feelings over the whisper channel, I'd be worried that he didn't love me anymore. I still worried a little. Harry's birthday was always front and center in my mind. Obviously, I couldn't take him off somewhere to be alone, without the presence of more adult adults. Clearly, Bill could not be trusted to put his career on the line and be an un-seeing protector who would keep a secret from Dad. I could depend upon our Circle and Mom.

So, after all the obsessing I did over what to give him for his birthday, I cooked him a dinner and I gave him a book, and I felt beyond lame. I hoped against hope that Harry didn't view birthdays as some kind of test. If he did, I know I failed. I told Hermione that I wanted a book that could inspire Harry to be as brave and moral a leader as he was as a fighter against Voldemort. We took books from the Muggle Studies section of the Ministry library and even used Hermione's library card to borrow books from a Muggle library. I read a dozen of Hermione's suggestions, settling upon To Kill a Mockingbird and Uncle Tom's Cabin. I hoped that Harry would like them. In truth, I felt even lamer knowing how much help I needed from Hermione to be able to come up with even a lame gift.

We celebrated Harry's birthday at The Burrow, with Mom and Dad in a nearby room. Dad seemed friendlier and more relaxed. He did wish 'Happy Birthday!' to Harry, with some genuine warmth. Still, he hovered – much more than I liked.

It was no ordinary dinner. I talked to Mom and to Professor Sprout. I shopped the Muggle stores and I raided the Hogwarts supplies. I used my wand, my cauldron, and a good old wood-fired stove. Professor Sprout told me to trust my nose, that it could sniff out a collection of compatible herbs and spices. I wanted sweetish, but spicy, going in an eastern direction. It was just too short notice to duplicate more than the dessert from 10101, besides, how could I give Harry a half-baked imitation of what he had already given me? I made spicy pumpkin soup, and a crab casserole, which was partly my own creation and partly the result of Hermione's, Luna's, and my own research in the Muggle Studies section of the Ministry Library. I used cumin, turmeric, Malabar pepper, and a hot cinnamon in both the soup and the casserole. I added three different cheeses, onion, celery, peas, and a bit of finely chopped fresh ancho pepper to my casserole. I baked my own version of the brown bread to tie it all together. I allotted us each one glass of fairly sweet white wine to go with the meal, presenting the remainder of the bottle to Dad.

Harry was pleased. With our whisper channel, he could keep up a steady flow of chatter during dinner and Dad couldn't hear a thing. I think the silence made Dad more nervous, and I took a little bit of glee in that.

After dinner, we took a stroll in the garden, ducking behind the shed for a quick snog, but reappearing before Dad came searching for us. I was relieved that Harry did not seem disappointed by my effort. He seemed happy, with the only annoyance being the ever-present Dad.

Harry didn't take me with him when he went to visit his grandmother. I did walk with him to Hogsmeade to meet Dudley. Dudley picked Harry up on his motorcycle, for what he told us would be a three hour drive. Bill and Barb would fly along for protection. As we stood in front of the Three Broomsticks waiting for Dudley, I started actively wondering what he was like. Harry had said a lot about him, but did not have a picture.

Dudley was not as fat as I expected from Harry's description. He was a little plump, but mainly tall and muscular. I didn't know whether Harry saw him as less fit than he was, or if Dudley had slimmed in the more than a year since Harry left Privet Drive. Harry introduced us and I didn't know whether to be pleased or insulted when Dudley declared "this one is sure worth spending a couple hundred quid on."

We didn't get a chance to exchange more than a few sentences, before Harry perched on the rear of the bike and they were gone. Dudley spoke more like a country Wizard than Harry did, despite not being a Wizard or living in the country. He seemed to have a very determined personality. I could see him personally killing whoever had done in his granddad.

I didn't see Harry again until breakfast the following morning. I asked him if he had a good ride and whether he learned anything to help solve the mystery. "Riding a bike, even as a passenger, is scarier than flying a broom, and almost as exciting. After the first couple hours, though, it just hurt my bum. It was good to spend some time with Dudley. He really enjoyed showing off his bike. We passed a lot of cars on the way. Uncle Vernon definitely would not be pleased if he saw how Dudley rides that bike.

"It was the first time that I saw my grandmother. She looked really old, but her mind was still sharp. She was very pleased to see us. She couldn't understand why Petunia and the grandchildren never visited. She said 'Petunia had a very happy childhood and we were a very close family, but we only visited with her once after she married Vernon.' She showed me a lot of pictures of Mom and Petunia as young girls and pictures of me with Mom and Dad and my grandfather. None of the pictures move at all, but I could make out how everyone looked. I saw my grandmother and grandfather when they were first married. It was a very good visit and I'm glad I went with Dudley. I'll take you soon.

"My grandmother did describe 'your grandfather's tricks' which certainly could have been magic. She told us about the night grandfather died, even though it made her cry. It is terrible seeing a really old lady cry. She said his death was 'definitely not an accident, although the police got nowhere with finding his killer. I do remember that the hit-and-run driver must have been wealthy, because he drove a Land Rover. A witness definitely said the driver was a he.' She said she had tried to forget that night, but would think and write down what she could remember. She said she had saved some news reports and notes she had written, but it might take her a day or more to find them. She'll get back to Dudley.

"Dudley wants to move away from Uncle Vernon, but spent all of his money on the bike. I told him that when next we saw him, I would likely have news of an inheritance from his great grandfather. That cheered him up a lot. Uncle Vernon has really been ragging on him.

That bike trip was the biggest deviation from three weeks of calm routine, and I didn't get to participate.

Every evening our group had dinner together with the Slytherins and the faculty and shared news of our remarkably calm daily activities. Harry would tell us of the doings at the Ministry and any humorous interchanges with Percy. He saved the more serious subjects until the Slytherins departed for their love nest. Harry usually had something interesting for Hermione and me to research, which would consume an hour or two of the following day for us. It wasn't wasted time from our studies, as the research almost always shone light on an obscure corner of Wizard civics or jurisprudence. Occasionally, we even got to delve into Wizard history of a couple centuries ago. This had sent us to the Ministry library and even the dungeon archives on two occasions. Those days were especially pleasant, because they afforded the opportunity for a long lunch with Harry.

Our dive into the basement archives afforded us the chance to meet Eleanor, the assistant museum curator at the Ministry. The basement archives came under the jurisdiction of the museum. Actually, so did the library. Mr. Device and Eleanor both worked directly under the head curator, Agatha Sayers, although the only overlap in their jobs was the old manuscripts on display in the library. Eleanor was only twenty-five and eager for a chance to dive into old archives, so we got along very well with her. Eleanor was very bright, loved her job, and seemed up for a good mystery. I don't know exactly why Hermione and I both judged her to be trustworthy on the basis of two hours working together one afternoon, but we did. In retrospect, this seemed to match Shacklebolt's selection process for his personal aurors, but I was sure that we were right about Eleanor. She was a Ravenclaw, McGonagall had good things to say about her, and she was of our generation, or practically so. For good or for bad, on our second trip to the archives, we told Eleanor that, in addition to the project for Harry, we were interested in anything we could learn about the Witches and Wizards of Edinburgh. Hermione described her interest as related to research she was doing in the Hogwarts library. That was as big a lie as a literal truth could be, and I think Eleanor saw right through it.

She was happy to help us. She was energetic, ambitious, and Agatha had kept her on a short leash, so that she hadn't been able to initiate any of the projects she had proposed for improving the museum. Agatha had her set ways and she was ninety-nine years old. Eleanor was being groomed as her replacement, but this meant mainly being given things to read, most of them Agatha's past writings, being told to watch Agatha do what little work Agatha still did, rewrite faded labels without changing a word from the original, dust and sweep, and generally be patient as she awaited Agatha's retirement. She had been waiting for five years. We represented adventure to her, to the extent that delving into dusty boxes of old paper can be considered adventurous.

Eleanor always succeeded in pointing us to the answers to Harry's questions. She also dug up some useful information on Edinburgh Wizards. We promised her that we would let Harry know how great a help she had been to our research. She smiled at that. She said we must get together for lunch outside the Ministry. We promised to do exactly that.

As more time passed, Dad reverted to his more normal personality. He even arranged a private lunch with me. While he didn't apologize for his over-reaction to my birthday, he also didn't mention it and treated me as more of an adult than he usually did. I excitedly told Harry of this fortunate change and Harry admitted that Dad had become easier to work with during the past week.

Harry, Dad, Percy, Prudence and Callista had bonded into a very loyal and effective team, although Dad was having difficulty shaking his reliance upon, and even deference to, Shacklebolt. He would seem ready to make a decision, only to stop and say "let me get back to you on that, tomorrow, I really should run it by Kingsley first." In working with Harry, Dad was forced to work with Percy, and the two had grown much closer together and developed a mutual respect. I think Percy was astounded to learn how good Dad was at commanding the Ministry.

One particular morning broke crisp and warm, without the haze such a day would produce in southern Britain. Despite this perfect start to the day, the first chinks in our calm routine appeared just after breakfast.

The Slytherins were prone to eat quickly and spend no more time at the table than minimally acceptable good manners dictated, but this particular morning they were highly agitated and eager to draw out breakfast until after Professor McGonagall had departed. As soon as she departed, Draco got right to the point. "The poltergeist has gotten worse again. Last night it was the worst it has ever been. It's become almost as solid as Peeves, so it can throw things about.

"But worst of all, and I didn't want to say this in front of McGonagall because she thinks we are exaggerating, but the ghost is beginning to look like a combination of Nagini and Voldemort's face. It hasn't spoken, but it seemed very clear that it doesn't like me. Last night, for the first time, it ignored Pansy, but kept buzzing me. It even knocked my coffee cup out of my hand. I'm really not at all sure that I can sleep there anymore. I'd like somebody else to investigate and confirm what we've seen, before we go to McGonagall."

"We could sleep in Slytherin House tonight," Harry offered. "I'm sure that Hagrid would be willing to stay with us, also."

"I'll be there, Harry," Hagrid agreed.

That set up change one to the routine. The other changes arrived with Harry at lunchtime. "The four of us are scheduled to meet with Lord Montaigne this afternoon to begin the restitution discussions. The meeting is at his castle. Next meeting is tomorrow afternoon, at the Ministry, and Lucius Malfoy and Doctor Sprout will be there. He asked me to invite Draco.

"The other interesting bits of news concern trials. Bruce's trial begins tomorrow morning at the Ministry. The trials of the prisoners captured at Beauxbatons and the Zuercher Banque ended yesterday. It was a joint French and German affair. They don't mess around over there. All convicted, all already 'Avada Kedavraed'. Viktor said they murdered dozens of children, plus they're not about to let them escape, as we did with some of our prisoners. Mr. Weasley feels that the French and German Ministries mainly wanted to send a message to the remaining members of the Grindelwald Conspiracy that they had better never think of rebellion again."

"Why does my father want me at the meeting?" Draco asked.

"He says because the restitution settlement could significantly impact your inheritance and future," Harry replied, "but I think it's equally because his intended Mrs. Draco Malfoy will be there. The deal will certainly have a huge impact upon her future. And, one final bit of news. Professor Slughorn will dine at the school tonight and he is bringing Miss Jones with him, so we won't be staying for dinner with Lord Montaigne."

"I have a bit of news for you, too," Hermione told Harry. "I met with the Goblin Supervisor this morning and he said that the Goblin King insisted upon meeting with you directly. The Goblin King is also the chairman of Gringotts Bank, so the meeting has been set for lunchtime, two days from now. I had no choice but to reply that you would be happy to lunch with the Chairman. It appears the Goblin King is considering not only your elevation to Deputy Minister but, more importantly, the possibility that you might be the true, valid, Wizard Covenant Keeper. Ginny will also be at the meeting, as will Ron and I. Nobody else is invited."

"Well, I can hardly decline such an invitation," Harry replied, "it's not just the contract on my life thing, but Ministry protocol must treat this as a high level diplomatic encounter. I'll have to have a chat with Percy tomorrow morning. And, of course, with your Dad. Do you have any words of advice, Hermione?"

"There's not a lot I can tell you. The primary thing is that you will be perfectly safe. If you enter Goblin property at the behest of their King, they guarantee your safety, just as they guarantee the safety of what you put in their vaults. It is a matter of Goblin pride. The other piece of advice is to not commit to anything specific. You can say their proposal is interesting, or merits serious consideration, or in a stretch that you are inclined to accept, but always finish by saying you must consider it further and speak with your advisors. With Goblins the precise language and fine print are always exceedingly important. As you've doubtless had opportunity to observe, they view the world a bit differently than we Wizards do."

"Thank you, I'll remember that."

"I have some advice," I said. "I think you should talk to Narcissa about her willingness to sign the statement that the Goblins want, before you go to lunch."

"Thank you, as well, I'll certainly do that. I should also tell Narcissa about Lucius wanting Draco to attend the meeting with the Montaignes. She'll likely want to be there as well."

"I certainly would prefer that mother be there," Draco replied. "I'm assuming I can't bring Pansy, but mother will at least provide protection against father's matchmaking.

"Since you're already so immersed in my family's affairs, Potter, is it reasonable to ask if you can get my father sprung from jail? He can hardly go back to the Death Eaters, he's in more personal risk in jail, and he can generate some tax revenue for you, if you let him go."

Draco looked very surprised when Harry replied, "I've been thinking along the same lines, and will take it up with the Minister in the next few days. Your father may have to stand trial, but I think it reasonable to let him out on bond. I'd be content to have him plead guilty and get a sentence of time served, with a long probation to keep him on his good behavior."

We had spent enough time talking at lunch, far more than any time in the past couple weeks, that we had to rush through dessert to make it to Montaigne Castle on time. Since Harry had been there before, we were able to apparate. Since Harry had two aurors to accompany him, I felt quite safe leaving George and Luna at Hogwarts. I was surprised to find that the second auror was a fairly young Witch, named Barb Rich. She was very tall and athletic looking, with long brown hair, and appeared to be only about five years older than me. We apparated to near the main entrance to the castle, but a bit away, at a spot that Harry knew to be out of sight of the door and windows. This had us landing snug up against the castle and standing amidst the Lord's planting of purple pansies. We took Bill with us and the other auror, Barb, was left in the pansies to guard the outside of the castle.

As soon as we rang the gong by the door, a Muggle butler greeted us, ushering us upstairs to a well-equipped office that Montaigne had not shown Harry on his first visit. The office had once been an ornate, wood paneled library, with floor to ceiling bookshelves. It had large windows, with ruby-colored curtains, but also electric lighting, which was illuminated. The floor was covered wall-to-wall by a thick wool carpet in royal purple. Lord Montaigne rose from behind a large antique oak desk, situated between the two biggest windows on one of the long walls. The desk was empty, save a single, neat stack of papers. I noticed a lot of modern equipment, in the far corner of the room. I did not have time to fully take it in, because his daughter rose from a large leather chair in front of the un-lit fireplace on the opposite wall and approached. I sensed the motion out of the corner of my eye and turned to meet her.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter Thirty – We Meet That Boring and Dumpy Montaigne Girl**

"Ah, this is my daughter Cassiopeia," Lord Montaigne boomed, also coming out from behind his desk to greet us. "Perhaps you know her from Hogwarts, although she's much younger than you, just a second year, and a Slytherin, so you probably haven't crossed paths a lot. She's been my right hand assistant these past few years. I've really missed her help, since she's been away at Hogwarts. Her mother died when Cassy was born and she has spent possibly more time with me in this office than was best for her. She has studied a lot of maths and accounting and gets along far better with adults and Muggles than with Wizards her own age. She just hasn't had the chance to ride a broom, or practice magic, or even play with young Wizards. Her best magical ability is knowing instantly if somebody is lying, which has made her invaluable to me. Unfortunately, her shyness around her classmates, plus the malevolence of that Parkinson girl, have given her the reputation of being stupid. I assure you, she is anything but." He paused, a little taken aback when he saw Bill, but then merely said "of course you travel with your own auror these days." Harry introduced Bill.

I went to shake Cassy's hand, prepared to see her in a different light from the description that Pansy had given us. She was short and a little heavy set, with a bigger bust and wider hips than fashionable for young Witches, but I wouldn't call her dumpy. She was dressed in a fairly formal Muggle bright blue sheath dress, which hugged her body and came to just a few inches above her knees, although it had a conservatively high neckline. A ribbon, in the same color as the dress and her piercing blue eyes, collected her long light brown hair into a loose ponytail. She wore glasses, very similar to Harry's. She still had time to grow taller and there was a good likelihood that she would grow up to be a very attractive Witch. In her own setting, she certainly did not seem lacking in self-confidence.

"Hello," she said, shaking my hand. "I'm sure you don't remember me from Hogwarts. I try not to stick out from the crowd. I'm more comfortable that way: Hogwarts is not a scene I'm particularly comfortable with. I'm very sorry to have been sorted into Slytherin. Pansy made life quite nasty for me in our common room. Please have a seat and I'll try to help my father explain the situation to you".

Harry had been greeting Lord Montaigne and now shook Cassy's hand. She said, "It's an honor to finally meet THE Harry Potter and the Deputy Minister. Don't be afraid, I'm not chasing after the famous Harry Potter myth. I've been impressed by your self-sacrifice and see you as another person who is viewed as the myth rather than a real person. It gives another shy person hope that she may prosper. You weren't at Hogwarts last term, or else I would I have made a point of meeting you. It appears that you and I may share a fate."

Ron and Hermione also greeted Cassy, and then we all took our seats. "As we determine appropriate restitution, there will be some difficult cases," Lord Montaigne began, "but, certainly none more difficult than Harry's grandfather and to a lesser extent Hermione's mother. As background, I must tell you that there is nothing more vital to the organization of the magical communities than The Covenant. You know that the public form of The Covenant provides for my family to secure Hogwarts and the sanctuary that shelters the Centaurs and Unicorns. In return, my family maintains our estate and may call upon the Centaurs for assistance in time of need. The responsibility to be the Keeper of The Covenant has passed down to the oldest son and, when necessary, the eldest daughter of my family. My family supplies the Wizard Keeper under the terms of The Covenant. There is no clear definition of Wizard. Ours is a pure blood family, although that is not a specific requirement. It is unclear whether or not the position of Keeper was intended to be limited to a Wizard having magical abilities."

I noticed that Cassy seemed to wince slightly as her father said the word Wizard. That apparently was a sore point.

"As you know," Lord Montaigne continued, "my brother was the eldest son. I was too young to understand what happened when he disappeared. I was only three years old. I've tried during these past weeks to learn all that I could find out about the details of my brother's banishment, but there are virtually no details. The St. Mungo's records are very fragmentary, as if Doctor Brown was trying to hide something. My own father never told me anything other than that he did what was necessary and that I was the best choice to be The Keeper. He never told me why.

"For my own part, I tried on several occasions to convince Bruce of the importance of his assuming his family duty, as eldest son, to be the Keeper. He felt it was dumb to assume what he saw as a subservient role to lesser magical species. He said he saw a larger destiny for himself. I kept convincing myself that as Bruce matured, he would grow into the responsibility. It is a very serious matter to bypass the eldest son for this honor and duty. I worried that my father had made a mistake by discarding his eldest son at a very early age, and was determined to give Bruce every chance to fulfill his destiny. I fear that I made a mistake as serious as my father's, but I have a chance to redeem myself. Bruce will never be my heir or the Keeper. I have no doubt that Cassiopeia will make an excellent Keeper and approach her responsibilities with extreme diligence.

"Now, the complication is that Harry or his Muggle cousin may be the legitimate heir to assume the mantle of Keeper. Cassy is here with us, because what we discuss clearly impacts her more than me. I know she is quite willing to assume the Keeper responsibility. It is a little unusual: she would be the first Witch to fill the role in almost two centuries. Only two Witches have ever been Keeper in close to a millenium."

"I don't see it as a confining obligation as my brother did," Cassy stated firmly. "The duty and the title would give me more independence than most Witches, at least almost all Great Family Witches, can create for themselves. I certainly would not have to worry about being married off to a conceited fool like Draco Malfoy. But I would readily assume the responsibility if it carried no personal benefit. I care deeply about my family's history and would devote all my energies to being the best Lady Montaigne and Keeper possible. I do have a desire to help all Wizards and magical creatures. I am a more serious person than people think I am. I realize it is not at all clear that I will have that opportunity. That is really the crux of what we need to decide. My father is in good health, so he can continue to fill the role as long as we want him to."

"Your father spoke of a private version of The Covenant. How does that differ from the public version?"

"I'll answer that," Lord Montaigne responded. "Few Wizards have seen a copy of The Hidden Covenant. I, as Keeper, of course have one. Another copy is passed down from one Minister of Magic to the next. I'm not at all certain what happened to that copy when Scrimgouer was murdered. Each holder of a copy is required to secrete it in a safe location. I don't know if it is lost, if the Death Eaters got it, or if it came into Minister Shacklebolt's hands. You might check with Shacklebolt at your earliest opportunity. If the Ministry copy is missing, I'll have a duplicate produced. Here is my copy. I've made an unofficial copy for you. Please don't lose it. Either destroy it after you have studied it, or secrete it somewhere that only you can retrieve it. The headmaster of Hogwarts also had a copy, but that may have been lost when the Carrows and Snape took over.

"As to its contents, the biggest difference from the public version is that this version also includes the Goblins, the Elves, and the Giants. I am also charged with preventing intrusion into the Sacred Cavern of the Goblins. It also lies beneath my estate: in fact, it lies roughly beneath the Hogwarts castle. It is said to contain the source of all magic in Britain, and the Goblin King is charged with maintenance and protection of the magic. The Goblin King is allowed to call upon me and the other magical creatures for assistance in preserving the magic, when action is required. The Elves are the main interlocutors among the magical species. The Unicorns have unspecified duties to assist the Centaurs and Wizards in time of need. The Centaurs are charged with assisting The Keeper when called upon, but have a broader duty. They are charged 'with prophesying and interpreting the messages that The Master writes across the universe, such that the balance of time and magic is maintained'.

"Just as I am The Keeper of The Covenant, there is an unidentified Keeper of the Universe, who is responsible for somehow, maybe magically, 'tuning up' the universe when things go awry. The representatives of all the other species owe obeisance to the Keeper of the Universe and must follow his commands, or else magic and the whole of the universe could come to an end. The only species not specifically mentioned to that point in The Covenant are the Muggles, the Giants, and the Leprechauns, so one of them could be the Keeper of the Universe. It's impossible to say. To my knowledge, the Keeper of the Universe has made no commands since The Covenant was first signed. There is also provision for the German Wizard Keeper of The Covenant to maintain a sanctuary for the Giants and to see to their well-being. The German Keeper should also have a copy of The Covenant, but it may have been lost over time. In any event, the Giants have not been keeping to their obligation not to attack other magical creatures and, to be honest, not a lot appears to have been done to see to their well-being. I confess that I would find it impossible to concern myself with their well-being – they're stupid, violent creatures – animals, basically.

"As Cassy says, I am in good health, and willing to remain as Keeper as long as required. The Covenant requires that the Keeper initiate a trainee, who will succeed him. I have elected to deviate slightly from that rule and to train both you and Cassy as potential future Keepers. Your friends may assist you and Cassy in your duties.

"That leaves one other problem. Your mother was the second daughter of my elder brother. It seems clear that her older sister did not inherit any magical properties and that her only son is, likewise, magically uninclined. As I said earlier, it is not clear that The Keeper is required to be magical, although The Covenant is signed by representatives of each of the MAGICAL species. Muggles and Wizards are really the same species, so this is highly complicated. One thing I think I have learned for certain from my father's and my own errors is that it is an awful and probably impossible thing to decide among your own kin.

"I will not ask you to determine whether or not your cousin Dudley or your Aunt Petunia could adequately and willingly serve as Keeper. I feel that I must see them myself and make my own determination. If, in good conscience, I am certain that they must be ruled out, then it is down to you and Cassy and it is my hope that you and she can agree to delay that decision. To be honest, it is my fervent wish that you and Cassy can agree on the decision on the question of whom should be Keeper between the two of you. I don't think I can be trusted with that decision. When I first learned of our problem, I hoped to solve it by marrying you and Cassy, but I see that you are otherwise spoken for, and Cassy has made it very clear that she will choose her own husband, if she marries at all. A Keeper failing to father or mother the next Keeper is another extraordinary and terrible thing in itself, but I am confronted with terribleness on all sides and must choose the least bad alternative. I hope that you and Cassy can at least be friends and allies."

"I'm content to wait and will certainly work with and get to know Cissy," Harry replied, "I also do not want to steal my cousin's inheritance. I don't think Dudley could stand to be Keeper, but he certainly would enjoy being Lord Montaigne. I have no problem stretching this out a while. And you are correct that I do not want to marry your daughter. I am also not eager to be Keeper."

"That approach is also acceptable to me," Cissy replied.

"Now, the next most difficult case that I am aware of is that of Hermione and her mother. Hermione's mother clearly was not a Squib and may even have been a pure blood Wizard. The identity of the mother was never truly known and Mr. Black's tale to his wife may have been a cover for a more damaging liaison closer to their social circle. That would explain his wife's extreme reaction. In any case, Mrs. Granger should have inherited a third of the Black fortune, at a time when significant money still remained. When Regulus died and Sirius was disowned, most of the wealth flowed to Narcissa's and Bellatrix's side of the family. A lot of the remnants of the Black fortune went to fund Voldemort's rise to power, so it is fitting that some of it come back to Hermione, who was derided as a filthy Mud Blood by that crew. Some of the Black money even went to Mr. Potter, here, although the inheritance arrangements certainly did not favor his godfather. Hermione's mother was also cheated of a Wizard education and the chance to live among her fellow Wizards and to develop her magical abilities.

"On the other hand, I believe she has lived a good life in the Muggle world and was happy with her marriage, family, and career. Now, however, she finds herself in the Wizard world, without adequate funds and without a Wizard education. I understand she will attend Hogwarts for at least a year, which is good. I don't know if she intends to stay with us or eventually return to the Muggle world. If she returns, the disruption caused by the Voldemort wars and the continuing need to hide from the Death Eaters will have interrupted her life and depleted her finances. With Muggle licensing requirements, the Grangers would be far too easy to locate if they stayed in dentistry. Meanwhile, her daughter enters adulthood without the monetary resources that a Great Family child would normally expect. While marrying the son of the Minister of Magic is a great honor, Arthur is far too ethical a man to reap the financial rewards from that post that have accrued to most of our past Ministers.

"So, something very definitely needs to be done. But let's divide our efforts. I suggest that Harry and Ginny go off with my daughter to discuss the Montaigne family assets, while I meet with Ron and Hermione."

Hermione temporarily derailed the Montaigne Express, by reasonably asking "I can't disagree with much of what you said, but shouldn't you be meeting with my mother, rather than me. It is her inheritance that you're talking about, not mine. The great wrong was done to her. I am not at all sure that I can or should speak on my mother's behalf."

"This is an informal meeting," Lord Montaigne was very quick to assure her. "Your mother will be at tomorrow's more formal session and may certainly speak for yourself. I'm sure you realize how new this world is to your mother. By talking to you first, it was my hope that you might interpret some of our stranger relevant customs for your mother and help her to better understand her rights and what is possible at this late date. I am certainly not asking that you make any commitments on behalf of your mother. Is that satisfactory?"

Hermione grudgingly agreed that it was fine to proceed on that basis.

"If you'll please come with me." Cissy led Harry and me to the long wood table against a side wall, which was clearly both her work area and the island of Muggle high technology in this very traditional room. Harry touched my hand and identified, in addition to the computer, printer, and land-line telephone that I recognized, a copier/fax/scanner, a plug-in computer drive add on, a radio transmitter/receiver, an RFID reader and, behind the table, a large flat screen monitor mounted to the wall. "May I offer you a sherry? Father allows me a glass when I'm at home and he's around. He says it's best to develop your head for wine at a youngish age."

We nodded yes, and she poured all three of us a generous glass from a decanter on a side table. "Father claims a sherry takes the rough edges off a difficult conversation. Do you mind if we talk a little, before I show you the accounts?" she asked as she steered us toward a grouping of three armchairs that had been set up, with side tables, along the wall with the fireplace. "I fear that I made a terrible mistake during my first day at Hogwarts. My father was a Slytherin, as was Bruce, so naturally when we were sorted, I was thinking Slytherin, Slytherin, Slytherin! That's where the sorting hat placed me, but I knew after a week that it was totally wrong for me. I got trapped in all the Malfoy intrigue. Draco looked me over disdainfully during my very first day at Hogwarts and said, "I don't care what father wants, I don't think I could ever be married to you. Isn't that a horrible thing to say to somebody you've just met, somebody who has no interest in you, whatsoever and whose father would never allow her to date you in any case? Then Pansy took Draco's disapproval as license to make my life in Slytherin a living hell. My second year, Pansy was upset that Draco was not at school and angry that his father still wanted to pair him with me, so she took it all out on me.

"She wasn't alone. She's actually a fairly typical Slytherin Witch. They dream of following the aristocratic tradition of the young Great Family Witch who finds a Great Family husband in the Slytherin common room, and lives a gracious stay-at-home life, cranking out lots of new little aristocrats. Except they can't anymore, crank out lots of little ones, that is. I didn't find a single girl in that common room who was interested in being a superior student or making something of herself, by herself. And then of course, they all supported Voldemort, except for me. Daddy hated Voldemort. I think he reminded him too much of Bruce, and then he killed Grindelwald, who was father's hero in his youth. He's outgrown that now, by the way. I know Snape is supposed to be a hero now, but he was awful to me, because Father wouldn't support Voldemort. He and the Carrows encouraged the worst side of the Slytherins. You may think that they're all going to return to Hogwarts in the fall as good citizens, with their tails between their legs now that Voldemort is gone, but I think you're wrong.

"Anyway, I'd really appreciate anything you can do to get me into Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. I really don't fit as a Slytherin, and my whole stay at Hogwarts will be horrible, unless I can move. I most want to be a Gryffindor. I think I'd bloom much better there. All the girls I looked up to as models were from those houses and they take scholarship seriously. The Slytherins think I'm stupid because I can't fly a broom as well as they can. It's ironic that as the Keepers of the magic, my family is not especially magical. Ginny, you were my heroine last term. I think you're the bravest Witch I've ever heard of. You were persecuted last term, even outright tortured, and yet you stood up to it and just kept fighting the Carrows. Harry was the brave one in fighting Voldemort, but I think Hermione was the brains of your group. There just aren't any Witches like that in Slytherin."

"Thank you very much," I replied. "I didn't know I was capable of what I did, until I had done it. If they decide to torture you, you really have no choice but to just endure it. The question is whether, after, you'll hide away or keep fighting for what you believe in. I wasn't going to let them force me to hide away. Not while Harry, and Ron, and Hermione were out there fighting. Nobody would have said before the fact that Neville was especially brave or bold, but he fought the Carrows harder than I did and paid a higher price, because he stayed at Hogwarts for the entire term. A lot of the kids did. You won't know what you're capable of until your challenge is before you and you pick It up, or not. You seem willing to pick up a very large burden as Keeper of the Covenant."

"We'll talk to McGonagall and do whatever we can to get you re-sorted," Harry promised. "It's a little touchy right now. Since I've become Deputy Minister, Professor McGonagall has become more worried than ever about interference from the Ministry in her running of the school."

"Thank you, you can say you're speaking as a trainee Keeper on behalf of another trainee, not as the Deputy Minister. Now I think I'd better move on to the accounts. Our sherry glasses are already empty, but I won't refill them. Anyhow, the most important thing to remember about the Montaigne finances, and how they relate to The Covenant, is the Muggle inheritance taxes. The absolute imperative for The Keeper is to keep the estate together. That means there must always be enough money on hand to pay the death taxes if the current Lord and Keeper suddenly dies. If the finances were tight for just a year and the Keeper was unlucky enough to die at just that time, you could have Muggles owning land all around Hogwarts and the Sanctuary. That would be awful. The second most important thing is that since The Keeper's main responsibility is to shield Hogwarts and the forest sanctuary from the Muggles, the Keeper has to move easily among the Muggles as a British Lord. That requires a minimum amount of splashy spending."

"I think I understand," Harry responded.

"I've prepared some spreadsheets for you to study. This first one is a listing of all of the assets that would be valued for death taxes. The first item is the castle, then the valuation of the lands used for timbering, then the sawmill and associated company, then the valuation of the shops and homes in Hogsmeade, based upon the annual rental contracts. Of course, the Hogwarts land is not listed. That's invisible and merged with the timbering land. The next number is the valuation of all moveable equipment, furniture, paintings, et cetera. It's all summarized on this next spreadsheet, which you can look at later. It's got everything from Mom's jewelry to my clothes. In all of this, I've tried to use a valuation about 10% above what comparable valuations would dictate. It's tricky - we don't want a lot of Muggle Treasury employees tromping around. There is a Wizard at the Treasury who is set up with the Prime Minister to do the valuation. If he comes up with a valuation a little on the high side, others in government won't have reason to pile on and double-check his work. If I took too high a valuation on the estate, then other wealthy Muggle Lords would have their Treasury friends investigate, so as not to set a high precedent. All in all, I think 10% high causes us the least trouble.

"Further down on the spread sheet are the financial investments in the Muggle financial institutions that will be used to pay the death duties, with enough additional operating cash left to tide us over for several years and provide for emergencies. So, as you can see, after all the death duties are paid, we're left with ten million pounds in British money.

This next spreadsheet lists the family's assets in the Wizard world, apart from the estate. There are 40,000 gold galleons in Gringotts, that's in addition to what was seized from Bruce, which the Ministry is holding. Then there are various articles of precious metal and jewelry and some bars of silver bullion that I've conservatively valued at another 40,000 gold galleons. We also own part shares in several businesses, including Gringotts bank and a couple shops on Diagon Alley, and a quarter of the Daily Prophet. I've valued that conservatively at another 80,000 galleons. Hogsmeade is another 20,000. So, we've got about 190,000 galleons worth of Wizard assets, including our London townhouse, but not the estate."

"Um, you've certainly presented this all very clearly, hasn't she Ginny?"

"Definitely, but I see you have one more sheet".

"Yes, this last is the income statement for our Wizard world activities. The first item is the Hogwarts rental. Next is the rental on the Hogsmeade shops, apart from what is reported to the Muggles. The last items are profits from our investments in Gringotts, the Prophet, and the other Diagon businesses. Our total income comes to 12,700 gold galleons a year. Our Wizard world living expenses, including my tuition, are 4,200 galleons a year, and taxes are 4,000 galleons. Charitable contributions of 4,300 galleons make up the difference.

"I'm still working up the numbers on Bruce's assets. I'm not sure I've found them all, or which of them are honest. Father kept thinking and hoping that Bruce had turned his life around and become some sort of genius in Muggle financial circles. When he left home, father gave him 10,000 pounds and told him to see what he could make of it. He told Daddy that he multiplied it many times over with shrewd investments, but when he came home he told me the true story. He took the path open to every Wizard. He went to a Muggle casino and used magic on the roulette wheel. He turned his money into half a million pounds. It was a one-time deal, he wouldn't dare set foot in a casino anywhere after that, but it gave him his start. He was able to live well at the finest retreats of the wealthy Muggles. He would confund or even Imperius the better looking young adults for his pleasure, and when they took him home to mama and papa, he would get the older generation to invest in one of his scams.

"Once father was sufficiently impressed to let Bruce participate in the operations of The New Start Society, Bruce recruited associates from among the relocated squibs, making them think they had to work with him to stay on good terms with The Society. He even committed what for many Wizards would be the far more serious offense of unconfunding the associates he had recruited. They were eager to work with him to get back at the families that had rejected them. One of them even turned out to have magical abilities as strong as Bruce's, which allowed them to carry out more elaborate scams. One of his biggest scores was the thirty-seven million pounds of our family funds that he recently pulled out of Gringotts. That has severely eaten into our Muggle surplus funds. At least he had the decency not to touch the money ear-marked for death duties. And we can make whatever restitution is required from our funds recovered from Bruce. We've also recovered about ten million pounds of Bruce's own money, but I have no idea where that came from, or if we'll have to give it back to somebody."

"Didn't you forget your father's apartment in Edinburgh?" I asked Cissy.

"No," she stared at me with a puzzled look on her face, then recognition dawned. "Sort of," she told me. "It's in the accounts which I just showed you, but as a part of our sawmill and timber sales company. Father sometimes uses it for business purposes, but not so much recently. I'm told that father spent a lot of time there, when my mother was still alive. He was a lot more social then and entertained Wizard and Muggle guests. Separately, of course. I doubt he's been in the past year, but of course I was away at Hogwarts."

"I wondered if Bruce used the apartment," I just dropped in front of her to see how she would react.

"I don't know. I know that father has taken him there, although not recently. He's never taken me. I remind him too much of mother and me in her favorite spot would be too much for him."

"Well, thank you very much for the explanation," Harry concluded. "You've been very thorough. Do I get to keep a copy? I guess we'll see you again tomorrow afternoon and I'll talk to Professor McGonagall for you. We have to get back Hogwarts for a dinner with Professor Slughorn. I'm sure you'd be welcome if you wanted to join us."

"I think I'd better not. We have to be at the Ministry bright and early for the start of Bruce's trial. Father is grieving for the son he thought he had. When the sun goes down, he slips into the severe mopes. I think I'm able to cheer him, at least a little. I'd love to visit some other time, however. Perhaps you and Ginny can give me some pointers on how to properly fly my broom."

Ron and Hermione had finished ahead of us, so we said goodbye to Lord Montaigne and departed for Hogwarts. We delayed our arrival at our common room, to give ourselves the chance to compare notes among the four of us. We had an hour prior to dinner, which would leave ample time for a sanitized update for the rest of our gang. As Hermione put it "there are some things I have to say to just the two of you and when you hear them, you'll understand. But I'm still collecting my thoughts, so you start, Harry. Is your fortune and Lordship set?"

"I'm not at all sure I shouldn't leave the Lordship to Cissy. Nobody mentioned it today, but too many Muggles would recognize me as the Dursley's neer-do-well nephew and loudly wonder how I came by a Scottish Lordship. Whether it's rightfully her title, or mine, or Dudley's, she's the only one who can slip smoothly into the position in both the Muggle and Wizard worlds. I'm sure Lord Montaigne realizes that I will recognize this point sometime soon, and just thought it rude or preemptory to raise it himself this early.

"I'm sure they'll give me some money, and that's not a bad thing. In politics, money is power and a politician with his own stash can afford to be scrupulously honest and impartial. I'm alright in the money department, with the house from Sirius and the money my parents left me. I even found out that being Deputy Minister comes with a salary of 500 galleons.

"The big question is what we will do with the Keeper duties. Cissy seems quite competent in what she's doing now. I don't know which of us would make the better Keeper. I think it's best to string it out and both of us to be trainees until she graduates. I'm beginning to think we can trust Lord Montaigne to be Keeper in the interim. How much are your parents' and your fortunes likely to improve?"

"I told him that I wasn't all that interested in money; I want to be a scholar or to fight for the rights of house Elves, but that my parents might need some help. He told me that it is far easier to devote your life to scholarship and Elven rights if you are secure with a pot of money to draw upon. He said in terms of justice, it was more a question of what was rightfully mine, rather than the minimum income I would need as a scholar. I guess that makes sense. It would allow Ron and me to choose whatever careers we truly desired, without being concerned about money. He suggested that if my parents chose to return to the Muggle world, that he would provide a nest egg of two million pounds. If they choose to stay here, half of Bruce's 20,000 galleons could be theirs. He suggested something in that range would be an appropriate settlement for me, but he'd have to check what funds were available from the Malfoy's and what Bellatrix left behind in the vault.

"I know the Ministry has already seized some of that, but Lord Montaigne said he knew there were still valuables in the vault. But then, and this is what I wanted to say to just the two of you, before we join the others. Lord Montaigne told me that he had heard prophecies about the four of us and he certainly was not about to have our children's' ability to fulfill those prophecies blocked by a lack of monetary resources, when it was in his power to restore that which was rightfully theirs.

"It was such a shock that I froze, rather than asking him to elaborate on the prophecies. What he said would certainly fit with the prophecies that Trelawney made, but how could Lord Montaigne know about them? I finally managed to say 'it sounds like you know of the two prophecies that I have recently heard' and he just smiled at me and said 'I've heard all three of the prophecies about you four and your children'. I thought it best to just let it lie there until I could plan what to say. I was afraid he didn't really know of the prophecies and wanted to trick me into revealing them."

Hermione perked up when I mentioned that Lord Montaigne had an apartment fit for major entertaining in Edinburgh and that Bruce had access to it. She even asked Harry why he hadn't found that to be worth mentioning.

"How, indeed?" Harry ignored the exchange between Hermione and me. "Professor McGonagall said that the prophecies just popped out as Trelawney went into a trance, but I suppose it's possible Trelawney heard them somewhere before. I don't think Professors McGonagall or Trelawney would have revealed the prophecies to anybody else. We'll have to visit them. Cissy didn't mention the prophecies to us, but she did mention that she hates Slytherin and wants to move to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. I promised to lobby Professor McGonagall on her behalf. So we have at least two topics for the meeting".

We went back to our common room and spent the remaining half hour mentioning everything except the prophecies. George made the mistake of saying, "that's great Harry, now you'll have more money to invest in the shop."

Mom seemed to grasp all that this statement implied about the past financing of the business. She gave George a funny look before speaking. "No, that will never happen. Shall we head down to dinner?"


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty-One – Dinner With Our Professors**

Professors Trelawney and McGonagall were already sitting at the center table, conversing with Slughorn and Gwenog Jones. Just as Professor Slughorn was getting up to extend profuse congratulations to Harry, Professor McGonagall looked up and said, "Welcome back. How did your meeting go?"

"Very interestingly," I replied to her, cutting above Slughorn's welcome. "We need to meet with you and Professor Trelawney after dinner. There was a lot of new information and some serious questions." The Professor nodded her head in agreement and we both turned back to our guests, as if we hadn't exchanged words at all.

"You ran a great campaign, Professor," Harry was saying to Slughorn. "We really enjoyed reading the press accounts of your comments. I can honestly say that I enjoyed your clippings more than my own."

"I must confess to being a little off put when you kept emphasizing how Bruce chased after and took advantage of young BOYS," Hermione challenged Slughorn. "I would have thought it better to simply say that he sexually abused children. He did also abuse girls, you know."

"Of course I know that and I certainly could have said that, but it wouldn't have had quite the same impact on the parts of the electorate that had lined up behind Bruce."

"But, didn't you feel a need to educate them, rather than feed into their baser prejudices?" Hermione pushed him.

"Wouldn't have worked," Slughorn declared simply. Seeing the look Hermione was giving him, he felt obliged to expand "it just seems more natural to many of us, myself included I'll admit, to understand how a fortyish Wizard could be attracted to a very attractive 15-year old Witch. It's nature's way. To go after a fourteen-year old boy just seems totally unnatural. I'm sorry. I know that marks me as a Slytherin Wizard of a certain age, but that is how I was raised to think and I guess I never formed any different views on my own. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that I don't see the world the same way. I guess my feeling as defensive as I do at your challenge is a concession that you may be largely correct. May we please alter the subject?"

"Okay. In any event, I'm very pleased that you played the role you did in exposing Bruce and forcing the Squib problem to be addressed in public. I DO congratulate you on that."

"Yes," Slughorn replied, restored to good humor, but now focusing his full attention upon Harry. "It was a grand lark and a pleasure to stick it to young Bruce, he really is as villainous a character as I've encountered. Unlike Tom Riddle, he had no redeeming qualities as a student. He also lacked Riddle's superficial charm. He combined the Riddle megalomania with a disgusting private life. I'm glad my comments helped the Ministry move the investigation forward.

"I understand we stopped him just in time before he financed another army on the Continent with the money he stole from his father. I always liked his father. If Lord Montaigne has a weakness it is that he always saw his son through very rosy glasses. His daughter is not a bad sort at all, painfully shy and not much more familiar with Wizard society than first year Muggle-borns. I considered including her in my circle, but had to drop her after two dinners: she just sat there quietly and the other students didn't feed off her at all. It was like there was a dead zone, wherever I sat her at table".

"We found her far more talkative and very competent in her own environment," I hastened to modify his stinging critique. "You're right though that she is as much Muggle as Witch. But I really wanted to meet your running mate. I've had a poster of her on my bedroom wall for years. I should have brought my Quidditch broom for you to autograph," I said to Gwenog. "I'm going to be the Seeker on this year's Gryffindor team."

"I played Seeker at Hogwarts," Gwyned replied, "but for Hufflepuff. Not everyone has arrived for dinner - you still have time to fetch your broom". I raced back to the dorm to retrieve the broom. Everyone else was seated for dinner when I returned, but I got the autograph.

It was a pleasant dinner, but amidst the chitchat Slughorn had a message that he wished to deliver. "I hear from a lot of my former students, many of them Slytherins. Very few are nostalgic for the return of Voldemort and fewer still would hide or provide succor to any of the surviving Death Eaters, but they are concerned. They fear embarrassment and further erosion of their Families' standing in Wizard society. They're willing to give Arthur and Harry a chance, but want the reorganization of Slytherin to go gently and want the restitution for this Squib debacle to happen as quickly and quietly as possible. I realize I'm the one that got the press riled up, which is likely why I heard from so many Slytherins. My advice would be to make sure the St. Mungo's program is clean going forward and make restitution where necessary, but don't rub their noses in the mess by publicly identifying each Squib to the family he or she came from.

"My students also have the sense, which I think you gathered from the campaign as much as I did, that Doctor Sprout is a good man who merely made some mistakes at the start of his career by being too obsequious to the Families. I think he's fine going forward. My other message is a personal one from my friend Narcissa. She still would like to reunite her family, and is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that. One other favor, if you please. My running mate Miss Jones would like to be appointed to fill the vacant Minister of Sports position."

"I'll look into all those items," Harry replied.

"Thanks. Well you know how to reach me, unless there is something else you have for me to do now."

"Actually, there is," Hermione told him. "We heard when we were on the Continent that there were other schools of magic in Greece and Egypt and India and even Australia and the Americas. We'd be interesting in contacting their headmasters. Since you're a great traveler, I thought you might be able to help us out there."

"I'll make it my first order of business. It should make another great lark. I really must take Miss Jones and be on my way, it's been very good to see you all again." Professor Sprout went to accompany them to the gate. After I whispered to George that we needed to see Professor McGonagall, the four of us followed her and Professor Trelawney out of the Great Hall. Instead of heading toward the headmaster's office, they guided us back toward their apartment, not saying a word until they had closed the door behind us and pointed us to seats.

"Is this about the prophecies, Ginny? Trew and I had hoped that you would continue to think about them."

"The prophecies and The Covenant. Lord Montaigne told us that he knew of prophecies about us and our children. It sounded like he must have heard the same prophecies that the two of you told to us. How could that be?"

"I don't know, Ginny. Nobody really knows the source of prophesy. These came to Professor Trelawney in a trance state, but they must have come from someplace or someone. I assure you, neither Trew nor I told anyone else about them."

"Certainly not," interjected Professor Trelawney.

"Lord Montaigne also told me that he knew of a third prophesy", Hermione stated. "I was too surprised to ask him what it said. I wasn't sure that he wasn't faking. Do you or Professor Trelawney know of another prophecy?"

"No, I'm sorry, I've only received the two", Professor Trelawney replied. "I promise to let you know immediately if I have another prophecy concerning you. It's very strange, the only prophecies I've ever had have involved Harry in some way".

"There was something else," Harry added, "about The Covenant. Lord Montaigne told us about a Hidden Covenant. It is like the public version, but also involves the Goblins and all the magical creatures. He said that copies of The Hidden Covenant were made available only to the Keeper of The Covenant, the Minister of Magic, and the headmasters of Hogwarts and Durmstrang. They are passed down from each person to the next successor. He told us about it, because he wants me and his daughter Cissy to begin serving as trainee Keepers, until we decide between ourselves which of us should replace him as the permanent Keeper. It sounded like he intends to pass on the job prior to his death."

"I'm not sure it was wise of him to reveal that information to you. I've not seen a Hidden Covenant, although Professor Dumbledore did from time to time suggest that there were secrets that went beyond Hogwarts that I would become aware of when I replaced him as headmaster. He hinted more directly six months before his death that these secrets involved the Covenant and Hogwarts' part in the agreement. I assure you that he never gave me a copy of a Hidden Covenant and I have no idea what is in it. Have you seen a copy?"

Harry reached into his robes and passed the copy to her. "Lord Montaigne said that the source of all magic in Britain lies beneath the Hogwarts part of his estate, and that it is associated with the Sacred Cavern of the Goblins. The Goblin King, who is also the chairman of Gringotts, can call on The Keeper, which is to say upon Lord Montaigne, to fulfill certain duties, including protecting the sanctuaries on the estate, including the Sacred Goblin Cavern."

Professor McGonagall's hand was shaking as she read the manuscript. She read a few lines aloud. "The Goblin Kings shall have responsibility for the seat of magical power. Its source shall be the Goblins' sacred place. The Keepers of The Covenant shall ensure that nobody except the Messenger Elf, the Keepers and those invited by the Keepers to petition the Goblin King, shall enter the sacred place without permission of the Goblin King. The Goblin King shall insure the safety and perfection of the magical source and may from time to time call upon The Keepers for performance of necessary services to this end. The penalty for violation of The Covenant shall be death."

"That is the same Goblin King, by the way, that I'm going to Gringotts to meet for lunch the day after tomorrow. Is there any light that you can shed on any of this?"

"I'm sorry, Harry. Dumbledore never had a chance, or at least never took the chance, to tell me anything about this. Clearly there's more underneath Hogwarts than we realized and the Goblin crew is doing more than operating our utilities. You should talk to Arthur, and Shacklebolt, and Viktor. It sounds like you can learn more from Lord Montaigne. Is he really bringing a second year into all of this? That is terribly unwise. I believe strongly that Witches should play a greater role in our society and would dearly love to have a Witch as Keeper, but I fear that this is just setting the poor child up for failure. She is so young and, frankly, hasn't shown great aptitude as a student."

"Yes, it's her destiny, or mine, or my cousin Dudley's. I think the revelations about his older brother being spirited off into the Squib program, for perhaps no reason other than to get him out of the way, is making him feel guilty and he thinks of this whole Keeper and Lord Montaigne title as something dirty that he wants to pass on quickly. Cissy seems a very capable and intelligent person. She's been her father's right hand for several years now. She created spreadsheets of all the family holdings and explained them to us. I don't think her reputation at Hogwarts does her justice, at all. She doesn't fit in at Slytherin and has been horribly bullied by Pansy and her friends. I don't think Lord Montaigne anticipates Cissy taking over as Keeper until after she graduates Hogwarts. In fact, I'm sure of that. If she can learn more from her father and us and prosper at Hogwarts during the next five years, I think she'll make a fine Keeper. Which brings me to a favor that she asked me to ask of you: she can't stand being in Slytherin and wants to be moved to Gryffindor or Ravenclaw."

"Does she, indeed? This isn't going to turn into more Ministry interference in the running of Hogwarts, is it? As you know, I report to the Trustees, not the Ministry."

"No, I'm asking you as a trainee Keeper on behalf of another trainee Keeper. And isn't the Trustee board out of business, because with the Death Eaters gone and those killed in the war, it lacks a quorum?"

"Well, in that case, if you're asking as a Keeper Trainee, how can I possibly refuse? I'm going to have to think on all of this. I will concede that lacking the full body of Trustees has avoided certain complications as I reorder Hogwarts. I realize that it is up to Arthur to appoint replacement Trustees. We'll talk some more tomorrow. May I keep this copy of The Hidden Covenent?"

"For now, but you can make your own copy of it. The one I gave you may be the only copy besides the original that Lord Montaigne has. We definitely have to talk tomorrow. We're meeting the Montaignes and the Malfoys tomorrow afternoon, and then the Goblin King on the following day. I don't feel comfortable going into Gringotts to meet him without knowing more."

"Good night, Harry. Talk to Arthur and Kingsley tomorrow."

As we were getting up to leave, I got my nerve up to ask if I might be allowed to linger a few minutes for a private chat with Professor McGonagall. Harry looked surprised, but said he'd see me back in our common room. Professor McGonagall looked equally surprised and quite skeptical, but after a considerable pause, consented to my request. Professor Trelawney said in that case, she'd go off to bed. I told her I didn't mind if she heard what I had to say.

The three of us hauled our chairs into a little triangle and I took the great leap "I don't know that I'm exactly what I would call jealous, but I know that Harry is spending a lot of time with his assistant, Callista White, and I realized that I know almost nothing about her, other than that she is Margaret's sister. I considered asking Margaret about Callista, but thought that would be more embarrassing and more likely to get back to Harry. So, I'm hoping that you will be willing to give me some background on Callista, just the non-confidential things that you don't feel would be unethical to tell me. I know I shouldn't care, but I find myself really wanting to know."

"As you know, Ginny, it isn't proper for a headmaster to speak of students or former students to another student, where confidentiality is involved. Still, in the interest of maintaining a peaceful atmosphere for all of us, I'm willing to give you some basic demographic information. First let me say that this is one of the reasons that I sometimes worry about you. You are so very mature in so many ways, yet in others you are still a student and think like a student. I confess that I am often confused about the best way to relate to you. I'll give you some unsolicited advice. You should trust Harry. He doesn't strike me as a Wizard with a wandering eye and, frankly, I worry that if you can't trust Harry, you won't be able to trust anyone. I thought you had some sort of direct mental link with him, so you should know what he thinks of Callista, shouldn't you. I think you're being very silly."

"The link doesn't work like that," I corrected her. "I can't just go rummaging in Harry's head to learn what he thinks or knows about somebody."

"Yes, I suppose it must be that way. You should both be very grateful for that. I don't think I'd care to know what Trew is thinking about me all the time or to know all the bad things I she thinks about other people whom I respect.

"Now, to your request. Callista graduated five years ago, making her probably a little old for Harry, in any case. I imagine that Cho being a year older than Harry is the deep down source of your concern. I don't think Harry even noticed Callista in the two years they were both at Hogwarts. She was a Ravenclaw and they wouldn't have had any classes together. I found Callista to be a very bright and very serious student. I like her very much. She is politically progressive and was very opposed to Voldemort. She noticed Harry during the two years they shared at this school, but certainly not with any romantic yearnings.

"As to what you really wanted me to tell you. I know that Callista isn't married and doesn't currently have a boyfriend. Unlike most young Witches, Callista was determined to independently make something of herself at the Ministry, before she marries. Her Hogwarts boyfriend waited three years, a surprisingly long time actually, and when she was still unwilling to marry, he moved on and is now married to another Witch, whom I also regard very highly.

"I'm giving you a longer answer in order to enable you to understand some of the issues that Callista is working on with Harry. You likely will also have input into these issues sooner, rather than later. I know you are a very great influence on Harry. Callista is passionate about affording more choices to young Witches in the lives they lead. Taking five years, before marriage, to get a jump on a career is extremely unusual. The majority of Witches are married by the Christmas following the year they graduate. You may not know this, but almost a quarter of the girls who enter Hogwarts do not graduate. The primary reason for dropping out is marriage. Among Slytherins and Hufflepuffs the rate of dropping out to marry is about four in ten. I find that to be an appalling thing. You may want to sit down and talk to Callista about this some time. She can tell you that one of the reasons she has postponed marriage is because once a Witch marries, her future in the Ministry, at Hogwarts, or at St. Mungo's is greatly reduced. Callista is happy with her life, but knows she has limited her marriage options. By five years after graduation, a Witch is pretty much either married or she isn't going to marry a Wizard close to her own age – the eligibles are pretty much taken, and even most recently graduated Wizards are very traditional in their view of what is proper in a Witch. I see Callista as very brave.

"I can assure you, that she is not interested in chasing after Harry. She very much enjoys working with him, but has no interest in Wizards as young as him. As you can tell, I've talked to Callista quite recently. I am one of the brains she's picked in developing her position papers for Harry. I have very strong feelings on this subject. I also feel very strongly about the fact that about half of Witches aren't allowed to vote. I hope that you will join Callista in pushing Harry to make the necessary changes. I realize that some of the Wizengamot members will have to be replaced, before much can be done.

"Before I say good night to you, let me assure you that it isn't the sherry causing me to say this much, or to be what you may later regard as indiscrete. I know Callista quite well and know that she wouldn't mind my saying any of this to you. If what I have said turns you from her rival to her ally, she would cheer. If not, I haven't told you anything about her that she wouldn't willingly tell you about herself, if you only sat down and had a chat with her. I'm sure you would both find that to be quite interesting. If nothing else, she can be a good friend to you. Now, good night."


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty-Two – Inside Slytherin**

We, or particularly I, had learned all that we were going to learn on this day, and after I rejoined our gang in our common room, we all headed off to Slytherin and bed. I had never been inside Slytherin before, other than that very quick peak when we had tested Umbridge's key. Harry led us to the entrance and pounded on the door. Draco had neglected to provide the password to us. Well, perhaps it had been deliberate, but really! How hard is it to do the polite thing and tell us the pass word, knowing you will change it as soon as we leave? Perhaps Draco feared that Pansy couldn't remember a new password. As I was musing, Pansy opened the door and asked us to come in.

Their common room had a grander look than ours. It was bigger and the furniture was almost new: quite handsome chairs and sofas covered with rich, black leather. The inlaid side tables seemed to be made of imported tropical woods. A rich dark green tapestry, with a snake coiled to strike, covered the entirety of the wall opposite the fireplace. The room was large enough that it held two billiard tables at the far end and an elaborate bar on the opposite wall, between the two stairs up to the dorms. Hagrid and the rest of our gang were already present, and realizing with embarrassment that by gaping I had missed the greetings, I just gave a guilty little wave to the others. "How did the meeting with Professor McGonagall go?" George asked.

"Fine, but it was personal, and too embarrassing to discuss."

"Uh huh, all right then," George responded with a funny look on his face that told me he had been referring to the group meeting, not my subsequent private session.

"Fine," Harry replied. "She was cooperative and wanted to be helpful, but there really wasn't anything that she could tell us. She wants me to talk to Arthur and Kingsley tomorrow. More to the point, how are things here?"

"It's been quiet so far," Neville replied, "but Draco says the ghost doesn't usually appear until later at night."

Draco had brought down blankets and pillows from the dorms, so we all grabbed a spot on the common room floor to sleep. Harry and I grabbed our bedding and took it to a spot along the wall with the snake tapestry. We had no sooner stretched out on the floor, than Harry asked me, "anything you want to tell me about?"

"No, it's personal and more than a little humiliating," I replied. Harry seemed to be practicing Occlumency, but since he had his arm around me and we were touching along the whole length of our bodies, he couldn't totally hide his feelings.

[concern, puzzlement, a bit hurt]

I decided that the best approach was to say something, before things went sharply down hill. "Alright, I realize this is really stupid and more than a little juvenile on my part, but I found myself feeling a little jealous of Callista and all the time you spend with her. I realized I knew almost nothing about her and asked McGonagall for a little background information to set my mind at ease or at least provide some perspective."

{[worried] you could have asked me, I would have told you the truth. I'm not interested in Callista. I'm not interested in anyone at all, except for you. I feel quite sure Callista has no romantic interest in me, either. I imagine that if Professor McGonagall knows anything at all about Callista, that what she told you was quite the opposite of reassuring. Callista isn't married, doesn't have a boyfriend and is approaching, or actually just past, the time she had set for herself to get married. Since she is very happy with her job, and knows I won't sideline her if she were to get married, she is especially interested in finding a serious boyfriend. I know that is not exactly reassuring information, but please trust me."

"I do trust you Harry. Sometimes I just can't help my little insecurities. Please don't be upset or think less of me for this."

"Not a problem, but I would like to understand why you lapse into these jealous moods, when you don't trust me. I know I haven't moved as fast as you would like. I just want a long happy life with both you and your family. You take too rosy a view of how your family is going to react. I knew that your Dad would react the way he did. I tried to tell you. The only reason Arthur and I are working together at all well is because he believed us both when we told him that nothing much happened at 10101. Your Dad's not a bad person. I like him."

"I know, Harry. I guess I'm going a little crazy because you've backed away from me so much since Dad exploded."

"I probably have over-reacted. I'm not good at this. I'll try harder to move back to where we were." I accepted this as progress. We had a nice snog and I felt better for it.

I had fallen asleep and was dreaming peacefully, when shouts in the room awakened me. "There it is," shouted Ron, pointing to a large, green snake floating down the stairs. It was a foot across and twenty feet long and, as it turned, I saw that it did have the head of Voldemort, with even colder red eyes than Voldemort had in life. I reflexively backed closer to the wall and squeezed up against Harry, pointing my wand at the phantom.

"Get back, you!" admonished Hagrid, brandishing his wand and shouting "protégo!" The Voldemort/snake had been looking straight into my eyes, but with Hagrid's protective charm, it floated away in an undulating motion toward Draco, hovering just a couple feet above the floor. It came to a stop three feet in front of Draco, who was sitting bolt upright against the wall, frozen with his wand lying in his lap. Then the unexpected happened. The ghost spoke.

"Your family betrayed me at the time of my greatest triumph - you, your father, but most especially Narcissa. Because of her, Harry Potter lived to slay me, while you and your whole family cowered in a corner. I will have my revenge. Just as the Slytherin family tree has come to an end with my death, my associates – yes, I still have willing servants – will see to it that every remaining twig of the Malfoy family tree is destroyed, and that the name Malfoy shall vanish from this land forever."

Draco let out a piercing, high pitched scream as the snake slowly moved to within an inch of his face, then it sped up and passed right through him as it whipped along the wall, and back to me. Almost to me. It stopped several feet from Harry, again opening its mouth to speak. "You were lucky again, helped by Narcissa and my failure to kill Draco before I faced you. I don't blame you; I bear a certain respect for you. It is my own error that raised you from a life of obscurity and my further error that I failed to kill you, when I had the chance. You were an enemy worthy of a …"

"Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted, his wand stretched to touch what would have been Voldemort's nose, if he had a little more solidity. The ghost recoiled in upon itself and was thrown, almost inside out, into the stairs. Harry pursued the ghost, which was now an indistinct, swirling ball of glowing green vapor. "Avada Kedavra!" A bolt of green lightning flew from Harry's wand to strike the presence. It was cleaved into two smaller balls, which ricocheted up the stairs, elongating in the process. The two halves coalesced as they disappeared up the stairs. Harry chased after it and raised his wand, but it was the stairs to the girls' dorm and it rejected Harry. The stairs flattened forward and Harry slid back down on his belly.

As I moved to help Harry back to his feet, I heard Pansy call out, "help Draco, he's collapsed. Why won't you help him?"

The tension of the moment broken, Hagrid and Luna hurried over and propped Draco against the wall. He was already starting to stir.

"You all saw that thing," Pansy almost screamed, her voice quavering with emotion. "You can't deny it now. You know it's real and it's really dangerous!"

Nobody much felt like sleeping after that. George brought brandy and cognac from the bar and passed around the bottles and glasses. "To steady our nerves and make sure the blood keeps flowing. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it, but that was Voldemort's head atop his snake."

"I say we get out of here, lock the door, and all go back to Gryffindor," Ron suggested. We did that, but we still didn't sleep. We spent the night discussing what we had seen and how it could be possible.

"I don't think this particular ghost is going to be as much fun as Peeves," Luna concluded. "I say we keep our courage and don't tell Professor McGonagall until breakfast."

We reluctantly agreed and drank a bit more as we talked, until all the bottles that George and Ron had grabbed were emptied. Harry had to admit to the Slytherins that we didn't even have sherry in our common room. We did make coffee, which we all drank to stave off the dreaded falling off into undefended sleep.

We managed to get ourselves cleaned up and presentable for breakfast. We were ahead of any of the professors, but as soon as Professors McGonagall and Trelawney arrived, we told them what we had all seen. "And you did not see it outside of Slytherin?" Professor McGonagall inquired.

"No, we never saw it again after Harry chased it up into the girls' dorm," Hermione explained. "I don't think he destroyed it, though. He split it in half temporarily, but it was reforming as it vanished."

"This is very disturbing," Professor McGonagall concluded. "I'll ask Mr. Filch to keep an eye out for our new ghost. In the meantime, I'm going to move Draco and Pansy into Gryffindor as a temporary measure. We'll see if the ghost can get out of Slytherin."

We made a point of letting the subject of the Voldemort ghost die. Nobody was willing to mention it again. We slowly turned to semi-normal chatter and calling out headlines from The Quibbler, which was delivered by owl to Luna. The Quibbler was returning to some of its more normal subjects, with the second lead headline on the front page reading:

**Red-headed Thrush Demon Spotted in East Anglia – Picture Unavailable**

A semi-normalcy must have been achieved, because the meal actually ended with a small spat between Pansy and Draco. Pansy was determined to go to the meeting at the Ministry, since Cissy would be there, and accused Draco of "caving in to your father and ignoring my feelings."

Draco responded, "This is business. I have no choice but to go. It would be inappropriate to take you with me. It has nothing to do with my father's wishes. You can't just bring uninvited guests to a meeting with the Minister. His aurors would throw you out or arrest you, and that would be embarrassing to all of us. I won't even talk to Cissy."

As the group was leaving breakfast, Hermione drew Pansy aside saying, "I can't believe you would even bring that topic up after what happened last night. I thought you were doing very well in your efforts to snare Draco, but that was really stupid. Jealousy is never pretty, and you do it especially poorly.

"I met with Cissy yesterday and I can assure you that she has zero interest in Draco. Furthermore, her father does not want her to marry Draco and wouldn't push her, even if he did. You may end up with rivals for Draco, but Cissy won't be among them. All you're doing is making Draco view you as a nag."

Pansy was preparing a smart response, but Hermione was already joining us, as we had raced out of the Great Hall to get to the Ministry in time for the start of Bruce's trial. Seats would be scarce. I knew I would have one, both as the Minister's daughter and as a witness and participant in the final battle with Bruce and Meier. I wasn't as sure that others in our circle would make it in, unless we arrived early.

We walked briskly to the apparation spot inside the wall and soon found ourselves in Dad's, or rather Harry's, ante-room, where Percy supplied us with credentials. Percy warned us that Madam Bones was still negotiating with the Montaignes and their attorney concerning a plea. "If Bruce pleads not guilty and full evidence is taken, you won't be admitted to the hearing until after you have been called as a witness. If Bruce decides to plead guilty, then witnesses will be called simply to amplify on the magnitude of his conduct or to express their personal suffering, in which case, you would be admitted at the start. In the interim, wait here. I don't know when court will begin."

"Since we have some time," Harry said, "why don't we go into my office and let Percy fill us in on the next meetings?"

This was the first time I had seen Harry seated behind the big Deputy Minister's desk. He looked out of place, but also, somehow a little more impressive. "Well, Percy," Harry began, "I'm supposed to be meeting with the Goblin King at Gringott's for lunch tomorrow, ostensibly to continue negotiations over restitution for our robbery of Narcissa's and Bellatrix's vault. Hermione was negotiating, on my behalf, with the Goblin supervisor at Hogwarts, when he said his King, who is the Gringotts' chairman, required my presence for the next session. We are to meet at 1:00 P.M. tomorrow. What guidance can you give me?"

"I wish you had consulted me earlier on this. What do the Goblins want in return for overlooking your vault heist?"

"I think they've given up the notion of putting out a hit on me. They want a personal apology, which I'll certainly give them. They want a letter from Narcissa, basically saying she doesn't hold them responsible and has no hard feelings about her vault being robbed. Of course, now it may be more Hermione's vault than Narcissa's.

"They want an understanding with regard to the Sword of Gryffindor, and they want some money. They've fairly much accepted that we did what we did for the good of all of magical creatures, but their dignity has been hurt. Oh, yes, they also want their dragon replaced."

"You didn't tell me that the Goblins wanted to kill you? As your chief aide, I'm supposed to handle such things. The very idea of the Goblin King taking out a contract on the Wizard Deputy Minister is just outlandish. It's a complete and total breach of protocol and I assure you I would have put a stop to that right away."

"They had already pretty much set aside the idea of having me killed before I even entered the race for Deputy Minister. Hermione and Professor Flitwick did a good job of negotiating with them. Besides, you are my chief aide at my Ministry office. Hermione is my chief aide at my Hogwarts office. I think the Goblin King may just want to meet me and have a chance to personally size me up in my new role."

"Well, it makes sense he would want a face-to-face with the Deputy Minister. I believe he has already spoken with Minister Weasley and with Shacklebolt, when he was Minister. The chief aide in your Ministry office outranks your chief aide in your Hogwarts office, doesn't he, er, I?"

"I've never considered who outranks whom. You help me in your way and Hermione helps me in a different way. I've worked with Hermione and Ron for years. If it helps, you should know that you're the only Chief Aide that is on salary. I wasn't referring to my role of Deputy Minister, though. I was thinking perhaps Lord Montaigne told the Goblin King that he was going to ask me to be a trainee Keeper".

"A trainee, what?"

"You've heard of the Wizard Keeper of The Covenant, haven't you? Lord Montaigne is the current Keeper, but he's having doubts about the validity of his elevation to that post. He is actually the younger Montaigne brother, as I assume will be discussed at this afternoon's meeting. His elder brother, who perhaps was the legitimate Keeper, was my grandfather. He died, but had two daughters: my mother and my Aunt Petunia. So it's possible that my Aunt Petunia, or my cousin Dursley, or I am the rightful Lord Montaigne and Keeper of The Covenant. Until it's all sorted out, he wants both his daughter Cissy and me to be trainee Keepers. That may be why the Goblin King wants to see me. There is a Hidden Covenant that provides more detail than the public one that you're aware of, and the Goblins and their King have certain rights and obligations under the Hidden Covenant, as does the Keeper to the Goblins."

"Oh! I really don't understand much of that, but I'll start looking into it. Let me set up a lunch meeting with the Minister so that we can discuss this with him. He should have some input before you talk to the Goblin King. I can tell it is going to be even more interesting working with you than I first thought."

"The lunch is a good idea. Would you ask Kingsley Shacklebolt to attend, also? Hermione, Ron, and Ginny will be joining us. I assume you've pulled together a summary of what has been discovered about the questionable squibs from the St. Mungo's program? We'll need that for this afternoon's meeting. Have you met the Montaignes? They'll be at that meeting."

"Yes, I have the summary here. Let me explain it to you…"


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty-Three – Restitution?**

At that moment, Prudence stuck her head into Harry's office and stated that the trial was about to start and the Minister wanted her to walk us down to the courtroom. As we walked to the elevator, Prudence explained that Bruce would plead guilty and that Doctor Sprout as Director of St. Mungo's and the leading expert on mental disorders would testify that he was insane. The details of his punishment remained to be decided.

"Lots of luck selling that. I agree that Bruce is probably insane," Harry said, "but is it at all credible to have someone as closely associated to him and his father as Dr. Sprout be the person that attests to that fact? The head of the Suib program and Bruce's running mate? I won't believe a word he says. Bruce's plot killed dozens of French school children. If he is insane, a French doctor should determine that." In unison, Hermione, Ron, and I said that we agreed with Harry.

"I don't know the Minister's position on the matter," Prudence replied.

We got out of the elevator at the basement level and walked to the courtroom. I was happy for Harry's sake that they weren't using the courtroom in which he was tried. They couldn't, since that was still being used as a jail. Our badges got us good seats and we took our places, waiting for the non-trial or whatever it was to start.

Dad was presiding at the trial. Madame Bones addressed the court, saying that Bruce was accused of sedition, violation of the Squib Act, conspiracy to wage war against a friendly Wizarding community, and deliberately acting in a manner that could be expected to reveal the Wizarding world to the Muggles and cause a breach of the peace with the Muggle government. Bruce's attorney rose and stated that Bruce pled guilty but with the mitigating circumstance of insanity. "That's fine, Dad accepted, "before we take testimony, are there any other motions?"

Monsieur Delacour rose to speak, "as acting Minster of Magic for France, Belgium, and Switzerland I formally request that the defendant be extradited to Paris to stand trial for the murders of thirty children, plus professors and security officers, at Beauxbatons School. We have also issued a warrant charging him with conspiring to overthrow the elected Wizard government and murder the Minister. I present for your review a translated copy of the indictment returned by the French Prosecutor General and approved by our Judicial Board. A transcription of all of the testimony taken by the Judicial Board and copies of all the evidence are attached, including the evidence given by the usurper LeDoux, when he was captured at Hogwarts."

"Your petition is noted," Dad replied. "The Wizengamot will determine at the end of these proceedings whether and at what time to extradite the prisoner."

I hadn't even noticed Viktor until he rose to speak. "The German Ministry presents a petition to extradite Bruce Montaigne to face capital charges of multiple murders, enticing Giants to murder humans, and attempting to overthrow the legitimate government."

"Your petition is also noted," Dad replied. "The Wizengamot will determine at the end of these proceedings whether and at what time to extradite the prisoner, and which petition for extradition shall be granted precedence. If there are no more petitions, I call on defense counsel to offer its witnesses on behalf of mitigating circumstances."

The first witness was Lord Montaigne, who was asked to make a sworn statement on behalf of his son. He was alternately apologetic, pleading, crying, and insisting that Bruce's personal problems led to his actions. "He was a good boy, but he changed while he was at Hogwarts. He was always very lonely but he didn't start having these bizarre thoughts or acting out on them until he got into a bad crowd at Hogwarts. The Slytherin common room was not a place that encouraged sane and responsible behavior. I know what he did was horrible and there really is no excuse for it, but it is more a result of his being not right mentally than being evil…. I kept thinking he was about to turn his life around… watched him as closely as I could… if I could bring his victims back to life or undo his crimes, I certainly would … finally had to send him abroad for his own good… had no idea what he was doing there… he always got along well with his little sister… please show some mercy to a troubled lad… pains me to see him written about as a mass murderer… not the Bruce I knew, he fell under the influence of that evil Meier Hyack who just wanted Bruce's money for his cause… Bruce was as much Meier's dupe as the Giants were… I blame Lucius Malfoy for leading Bruce to support Meier… revenge for my not supporting Voldemort… Bruce wouldn't kill anyone… I know what conspiracy means and that raising the money for the killing was the same legally as doing it… Bruce thought he was in a war to preserve the best Wizard traditions… Bruce was definitely turning his life around, but his mother's death affected him profoundly and he went into a tailspin, the worst I've ever seen him… I take responsibility… our family has always avoided politics and tried to serve the Wizard community… my heart is heavy… I implore your mercy." I have no idea what effect his testimony had on the Wizengamot, but a lot of them were Great Family members and perhaps sympathetic.

Madam Bones said she had only two questions for him. "The first one is very simple. How old was Bruce when his mother died?"

"He was twenty-seven. His mother died giving birth to his younger sister. Bruce was terribly affected, and I was not able to be as good a parent to him as his mother had been."

"And when you say that after his mother's death, Bruce was the worst you have ever seen him, does this include the times when he used an Imperius Curse to engage in improper conduct with an underage Wizard, or his financing of attacks by Giants upon two schools filled with young children?"

"That was just an accusation, Bruce was never found guilty of molesting the boy."

"It turns out I do have a third question for you. Is it not true that St. Mungo's determined that the boy in question had been subjected to an Imperius Curse and is it not also true that the case was dropped because Bruce fled Britain and you paid off the accuser and got him a job with Lucius Malfoy?"

"Yes. I guess it is reasonable to conclude that Bruce committed the offense that he was accused of. It's just that it's still a sore point with me. I acted because I couldn't bear to see Bruce in jail."

The next witness was Doctor Sprout who testified that Bruce was clearly suffering from manifold mental problems "obviously, seriously mentally ill, you don't even need to be a doctor to tell that… delusions, narcissism, egomania, very likely a sociopath, possibly schizophrenic, claimed the Light Guardian spoke to him and told him what to do… definitely not able to discern that his actions were wrong… can't hold him fully responsible, his mind doesn't work like yours or mine… I wouldn't call him evil, not a classic criminal." The Wizengamot listened very attentively to his testimony, but I couldn't tell how much weight it was being given.

Madam Bones had just two rebuttal questions. "You learned about all these mental problems in the course of your brief, two hour examination of the defendant?" The answer was in the affirmative. "And previously, in the course of hours of discussion with Bruce in which you discussed his political views and even decided to be his running mate in the past election, this mental illness that you describe as obvious was not apparent to you? He seemed normal enough and capable enough to you that you chose to give him your strongest possible endorsement to be Minister of Magic?"

"Well, he perhaps seemed a little strange and given to exaggerated thoughts of grandeur, but his father is a very good friend and business associate, a very good man, and in fact in many ways a mentor to me. My candidacy was, in my own mind, a favor to his father."

"I'm sorry", Madam Bones replied. "I find that I do have a third question. Let me ask you this, was your testimony today another favor to his father and is your appearance here today an indication that the family was unable to obtain an impartial doctor, who was willing to give such favorable testimony?" The good doctor was pretty much reduced to incoherent babbling.

"I think Madam Bones makes an excellent point," Dad said. "I suggest we postpone the remainder of this trial until the defendant can be evaluated by impartial doctors. I intend no offense to the distinguished Dr. Sprout, but given his close association with Lord Montaigne, his impartiality might be doubted by a reasonable member of the Wizengamot. Whatever Bruce's mental health, the members of the Wizengamot deserve a medical opinion that they can rely upon. This trial is adjourned for one week."

"Begging the court's pardon," Viktor said, standing and raising his hand. "You have witnesses that have traveled from France and Germany, some of them children on their summer holiday. Could they be heard before you adjourn?"

"Yes, very well," Dad responded. "Who would like to testify?"

We heard very moving tales of horror, grief, and remembrance of the dead students from Viktor, Madame Maxime, and half a dozen students who had seen their classmates perish. Four parents spoke of the horrendous loss they had suffered, and said that having a son in prison paled by comparison. Monsieur Delacour spoke of the murdered Minister and the misdeeds that LeDoux committed in his place. He also told of the Beauxbatons artifacts and Flamel papers that were found at Bruce's hideout and asked if they were worth the deaths of thirty-one students to Bruce. He also said that he had personally witnessed Bruce's associate use the 'Avada Kedavra' curse on Minister Weasley's own daughter. These are crimes which approach those of Voldemort. Will the great British Wizard community shrug them off, because they happened across a small expanse of water or because the perpetrator lost his mother as an adult? Appropriate restitution is not possible, but Bruce must pay for his actions."

The defense counsel had no rebuttal questions and so the trial was about to be adjourned. That's when everybody, including defense counsel was surprised to see Bruce raise his arm and strain as erect as he could, chained to his chair, yelling "this is my trial, and I demand to be heard! The temporary French Minister talks of usurpers and demands I be turned over to him. He is a fine one to speak of usurpation. It was my ancestor who united the French and German Ministries and successfully ruled all magical creatures on the Continent, in what was the golden period for those lands. He and his rightful heirs were usurped, indeed killed. By rights, control of the Ministries and schools on the Continent belonged to me. I was merely joining with like-minded Wizards to seek restitution of what is rightfully mine.

"I deserve restitution and the fealty of lesser Wizards such as yourselves, yet you haul me here in chains and pretend a right to judge ME. Well, if this is a lawful court, which I sincerely doubt, then I demand restitution. It is those usurpers Delacour and Krum who should be sitting here in chains. How dare they come here and demand to judge ME. I am your King. Treat me with the respect I deserve! And, please, rid me of that old man who calls himself Lord Montaigne, but who refuses to defend the rights of the Montaignes. Asking mercy from you? It is an outrage! I have no father; he died a long time ago. Father thought he had a clever deal with the Goblins, but I made a better one. I recognize no court that I have not myself convened. You are right to disbelieve Doctor Sprout; he is a quack, as well as a cowardly traitor. But don't think I'm going to allow any other doctors to examine me. You are rabble who have risen above your station."

"Restitution?" screamed Viktor. "You are an obscenity. I'll restore you to the dust from which you descended!"

When I, as well as the rest of the courtroom, had finished gasping, I realized that we had a little time before lunch with Dad, so we were going to go down and say hello to Viktor and Monsieur Delacour. I was headed for Viktor, when I saw Cissy heading for Harry. I thought that meeting would be more revelatory, so I turned and headed back to Harry.

Cissy led us toward a corner of the room that was rapidly emptying, motioned us to two seats and knelt on the seat in the row in front of us, so she could speak facing us. "I have to apologize for my father. I still don't think he has really grasped how bad Bruce's actions have been. He still has himself convinced that he can get Bruce off with just a fine, renunciation of his inheritance, and banishment to Australia. But, really, why would the Wizards of Australia want to deal with Bruce? It's also very clear, listening to Viktor and Monsieur Delacour, that if Bruce is ever released, he will be hunted down in vengeance for all those dead children. I'll try to lower Daddy's expectations. The best solution for Bruce is to be imprisoned in Britain for the rest of his life. Probably also the safest thing for the rest of the Wizarding world."

"I think you're correct," Harry replied. "In his own way, Bruce was as bad as Voldemort. It's chilling to think of 31 students dead, just because Bruce coveted their school's artifacts. I expect your father to push me to somehow arrange a very lenient sentence for Bruce. There really is nothing I can do, nor that I would want to do. I was at Beauxbatons the second time it was attacked. Paying Giants to attack Wizard children is about as bad as it gets.

"I know your father was blowing a certain amount of smoke the other day. The job of Keeper may truly be up for grabs, but there is no way Dudley Dursley or his poor-relation cousin can suddenly raise their hand and claim to be the new Lord Montaigne. Too many ordinary Brits know us as something very different. You are the only one who can replace your father. I'm surprised your father didn't expect me to recognize that as soon as he broached the possibility."

"If he had asked me in advance, I would have told him how stupid the offer was. I think he sees you as just a dumb jock war hero. I told him Arthur wouldn't have picked you as Deputy Minister if you weren't much more than that. He is sincere about us both being trainee Keepers. He takes the Keeper duties extremely seriously, despite what you might assume from the length of time he convinced himself that Bruce could ever be a satisfactory replacement. I think the final straw for father was when Bruce tried to grope me the summer before I left for Hogwarts. It was like a special going away present the day before I left on the train. That also got me off to a bad start in Slytherin, but I digress.

"There is something that you may not have grasped yet. It is certainly true that Daddy's fondest desire, now that Bruce has failed him, is that I will succeed him as Keeper. He genuinely sees the job as tainted to him, with the shoving aside of his elder brother as a black mark that has destroyed his karma. If he felt safe giving me the job today, he would do it. He is just kicking the can down the road to make sure I don't go Bruce's direction before I graduate from Hogwarts. He knows that certain mental illnesses don't manifest until the late teens. His blaming Hogwarts for Bruce's change is just rationalization. He knows that there is a familial component of these things and believes that our side of the family is cursed. You're his backup if I go crazy.

"But, you're right in your cynicism of him. If I graduate from Hogwarts hale and hearty, he will do whatever it takes, including attacking you, to make sure that the next Keeper is me and not you. Until then, in addition to being the backup, he thinks you can be useful to the family and honestly does believe that we owe you a debt that he would like to repay. I think you already figured most of this out for yourself, but just wanted to make sure we were on the same page, since we'll be forced to work together a lot. For what it's worth, I think I would make a very good Keeper, if I can keep my sanity, and I would devote the rest of my life to fulfilling the duties. I know you would too, if you end up with the job. It would be a little harder for you, not having title to the estate, and you will likely be out of politics and just an honored member of the Wizengamot by then. Over the years, there has been a lot of prejudice against a Witch filling the role, but it's not unprecedented and I know you don't share those prejudices. I see Daddy wants me back and is unsure I should be talking to you. One last thing, did you speak to McGonagall about moving me out of Slytherin?"

"I spoke to her last night. She said she'd think about it. It's possible everybody will be out of Slytherin next year. Voldemort returned as a ghost last night and he is haunting Slytherin. Probably best not to mention that. I'll see you again this afternoon."

As she walked away, I remarked to Harry about how mature Cissy seemed for a second year.

"Yes, very much so," he replied. "Now, we'd best get up to your Dad's office."

"Just the same," Hermione added "I don't think I would have mentioned the ghost. There's no benefit from Lord Montaigne or his son learning of that any sooner than can be avoided. None of us knows what Cissy tells her father or in exactly what ways she serves her family."

"Spoken like McGonagall," Ron replied. It was clear that Hermione couldn't tell whether that was viewed as a compliment or a jab.


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter Thirty-Four – Lunch With Dad**

Prudence told us to go right into Dad's office, so we did. As the door opened I heard Dad's voice saying "… don't really know what Montaigne could have expected with Dr. Sprout as a witness. I had encouraged Madam Bones to go somewhat easy at the trial, but she had no choice but to demolish Sprout. It was childishly easy. I don't think Montaigne's testimony helped Bruce at all. The French make a very strong case for extradition and they have every right under treaty to expect to succeed in their petition. Bruce landing a long sentence here in Britain is about the only thing that could prevent it. The Wizengamot has been known to be provincial, but I doubt it would be so provincial as to deny the French and Germans and then give Bruce a sentence as light as banishment to Australia or the New World." I had seen as soon as I entered the room that Dad had been speaking to Kingsley Shacklebolt. Harry greeted them both and we took our seats. Hermione and Ron entered and also helped themselves to chairs.

Percy came in with an airy "sorry to be late, I was following up some questions that Harry had and couldn't quickly break away." Dad and Shacklebolt each gave him such a look that Harry was forced to say, "I asked Percy to join us. I hope I didn't overstep." Dad nodded that it was fine, with the implied comment 'as long as he's not here by his own invitation'.

"I realize we don't have a lot of time before this afternoon's restitution meeting, so I'll just quickly lay out some topics where I need your guidance, and then you can respond to whichever seem most pressing to you. Okay, the news update in no particular order: we all saw a Voldemort/Nagini ghost, almost fully-formed, appear in Slytherin last night; I have a meeting with the Goblin King at Gringotts tomorrow lunch, at the insistence of the Hogwarts Goblin supervisor whom Hermione has been negotiating with; during our meeting at the Montaigne Castle, Lord Montaigne said he wanted to train both Cissy and me as trainee Keepers of the Covenant; he gave us a copy of a Hidden Covenant that includes the Goblins and their Sacred Cavern under Hogwarts, wherein lies the source of all magic in Britain; Montaigne said both the Minister of Magic and Hogwarts headmaster are to pass a copy of the Hidden Covenant to their successors, but Professor McGonagall has never seen one; Montaigne also appears to know about the new prophecies that Professor Trelawney made about all of us and said there is another third prophecy; there has been more mention of a Light Guardian or White Guardian, that I really need to find out more about; Cissy Montaigne, who is extremely capable and mature for a second year, gave us a spreadsheet of the Montaigne family finances; numbers were bandied about but no firm restitution offers of any sort were made to us; and, lastly, Lord Montaigne wants to meet the Dursleys. Have at it."

"Well," Dad replied, "to start, I've never seen a copy of a Hidden Covenant, but then Kingsley was in no position to pass it on to me."

"I've never actually seen a copy, but I had heard of its existence. Dumbledore once mentioned it to me. It was clear that he had a copy. Please don't tell Professor McGonagall, but I think Dumbledore wanted me to succeed him at Hogwarts. I'm not a teacher, but I think Dumbledore valued the field marshal side of his job higher than headmaster. I never heard of a copy in the possession of the Ministry. As to your concern about a third prophecy, you might check among the stored memories at the Ministry. I know you had a role in the destruction of most of the stored prophecies, but this one might have survived or it might post-date your little adventure. It's not at all unreasonable for Montaigne to have learned of the prophecies in his role of Keeper. Perhaps a Centaur or Goblin told him."

"I doubt it would have been a Goblin," Dad mused. "Perhaps a Unicorn? This whole Keeper thing is very troubling, especially Montaigne raising it at this particular time. I feel as if he's raised it as blackmail to get Bruce off lightly. It's either do right by Bruce, or else I really mess up this Keeper and protector of Hogwarts business. The worst part is I don't see an acceptable substitute for the Montaignes. His title and standing in the Muggle world are vital to the protection of Hogwarts. I'm sure you realize, Harry, that you could never pass as a substitute Lord Montaigne.

"I wish I understood Cissy better. I think you should go along with this trainee thing - it keeps our options open and likely postpones serious bad action from the Montaignes. I assure you that I take the implied threat very seriously, especially since we are really boxed in by the French petition. There really aren't any good options in dealing with Bruce. What's next, oh the Dursleys, I have no problem with a meeting, as long as Montaigne is there strictly as a British Lord."

"I'd be very careful in talking to the Goblin King," Shacklebolt advised. "I met with him once when I was an auror, and twice after becoming Minister. He is a hard person to like, extremely condescending and demanding. He always has an ulterior motive and has always believed Goblins in general, and himself in particular, were under-appreciated and severely under-rewarded. Don't be lulled into thinking this is a casual 'get acquainted with the new Deputy Minister' session. He was actively trying to wring concessions from me in a quite underhanded manner during my first meeting with him as Minister. Even when I met with him as an auror, he just barely floated the notion, totally deniable you understand, that I might want to earn extra compensation by passing on juicy tidbits of information to the Goblins.

"Never definitively agree to anything during a meeting. Always say you need to consider and check with others. Guard even your body language. If it suits his purpose, he'll interpret a nod as an agreement signed in your blood. So, don't let any statement he makes hang in a manner that could be interpreted as consent by silence. Always interject that you can't agree now, but you will consider it. That is not regarded as rude in the Goblin world."

"The Voldemort ghost is disturbing," Dad shuddered. "It is just the sort of thing to convince his supporters that he's on his way to another re-corporealization. I always heard that the Hogwarts ghosts were among the Wizards most determined to avoid death. I remember thinking how hard Peeves must have feared going Beyond to fight his way back to that misty form. Certainly Voldemort's drive to stay in this world was second to none, but I always thought a good amount of soul was required to pull off the trick and Voldemort's has been split so many times that almost nothing should have been left after he killed himself trying to kill Harry. This just sounds too much like the story of the less-than-a-ghost diminished Voldemort that survived after trying to slay the infant Harry. I think we should focus a great deal of attention on learning how to kill a ghost. I wonder if he doesn't have an intended or accidental horcrux floating around somewhere. In his much weakened state, I assume he would be stronger, the nearer he was to his horcrux. He may be at Hogwarts because that's where he died, or he may be there because the horcrux is at Hogwarts. We should also try to identify the horcrux. It might help if you tried to record when and where he seemed stronger and weaker. In the meantime, I'd prefer to keep this hush-hush, at least until we locate Barty Crouch and Thicknesse. I don't delude myself that there aren't others out there who would support a reborn Voldemort, but those two are the most dangerous."

Food arrived and we took a pause to fill our bellies and to think about what had just been said. Dad said between bites of his sandwich, "Do you have a copy of the Hidden Covenant for us?"

"I'm really sorry. I just got mine yesterday afternoon. I thought you might have your own copy so I gave mine to Professor McGonagall to make a copy for herself."

"That's fine - just bring me a copy when you come to the Ministry tomorrow.

"With all of these prophecies centering on you and Hermione and my children, I think you should all add divination to your course schedule next term. It may cause a little ill feeling with Trelawney and McGonagall, but I want you to insist upon taking the course from Firenze. I want you to be in position to get the Centaur picture on all of this."

"I'll certainly do that, Sir. By the way, I forgot in the press of all that other business, but I semi-promised Draco that I would raise the issue of reunification of his family as part of his parents' rehabilitation and our co-opting of them. Draco is afraid that his father will be murdered in jail as LeDoux was. Is it possible to have some sort of supervised parole until Lucius's case is resolved?"

"What you mean is out on bail," Shacklebolt corrected. "The Minister and I had been considering that possibility, in return for some additional assistance from Lucius, but the reappearance of Voldemort as a ghost is a new development. I think it might seriously complicate things, were Lucius or Narcissa to learn of the ghost. Lucius, at least."

"If it helps at all, the ghost did threaten Draco and his family. Draco actually fainted," I was happy to add. "The ghost said that every last twig of the Malfoy family tree would be destroyed by his remaining supporters."

I must have broken some protocol by speaking, because Percy seemed to take the comment from his little sister as permission to enter the discussion. "I've come upon a few scraps of information that may be of value. I've heard from a lower-level Ministry contact who patrols Diagon Alley to prevent petty thievery that he has noticed that Fred and Lee's shop is being watched by a Wizard whom he knows to be an informant for the Goblins. He thought the informant was spying on Lee, but soon came to the conclusion that he was assigned to watch Cho's movements outside the bank. This began right after word of the capture of Bruce and his money. We should alert Cho that she is in danger. The other possibly pertinent fact relates to places that previous Ministers hung out a lot and may have secreted something like The Hidden Covenant. Thicknesse spent a lot of time in the Muggle tool shop, including when nobody else was present. Scrimgouer spent a lot of time in the courtroom that is now being used as a jail."

"I'll get a message to Lee to warn Cho," George responded. "She might want to accelerate her trip to Durmstrang."

"If Viktor's still here, he can be the ardent lover spiriting her away to a vacation in his castle," Hermione offered. "That way the Goblins won't know that we know that they know that Cho is our spy. I'm going to go look for him and join you in the conference room."

"I'll personally lead a search of those rooms," Shacklebolt pledged."

"I have one last word of advice for all of you, before we head off to the restitution meeting," Dad concluded. "It's clear to me that you are all very impressed by Cissy Montaigne and have taken a liking to her. You should remember that she has almost certainly inherited a full measure of the Montaigne guile and ambition. They are very used to having their way about everything. They have tended to stay out of Wizard politics in recent generations, largely because they were able to achieve all that they sought without acting openly. Please remember that she is her father's top aide and not nearly as innocent as she might appear. I remain puzzled as to why Lord Montaigne allowed Bruce to reenter Britain in such a visible manner and expose them all to the press scrutiny in his bid for office. There must be something big that they want, of which we are presently unaware."


	35. Chapter 35

**Chapter Thirty-Five – Restitution for the Squibs**

We entered the conference room to find Doctor Sprout, Lord and Cissy Montaigne, Lucius and Draco Malfoy, and the Grangers already waiting for us. Cissy and Draco were seated as far apart as possible without usurping the head or foot of the conference table. Dad took up his spot at the head of the table, leaving Cissy on his left. Harry sat at the foot of the table with Draco at his right. I sat on Harry's left and the others filled in. The only potential awkwardness was that the arrangement left Percy on Dad's right. Shacklebolt arrived a couple minutes later and squeezed in between Lucius Malfoy and Dr. Sprout. Two aurors were directly behind Lucius, and one of Dad's aurors and Bill sat looking nonchalant in chairs in the corners of the room on our side of the table. Prudence sat in the other corner nearest to Dad, prepared to take an official transcript. Madam Bones arrived with Narcissa and tried to sit between Hermione and Neville until Dad motioned for her to sit between Percy and himself.

Dad commented to Lucius, "continue to behave yourself, and your situation may improve. I've been encouraged to give you another chance, by those most wronged by you. I am willing to be merciful."

Dad called the meeting to order. "We're here to develop a program to provide restitution to those Wizards and their offspring who were improperly placed in St. Mungo's Squib program. I understand that at the moment we have a pool of 40 million British pounds and 30,000 gold galleons, with the prospect of additional contributions from the affected Great Families, if necessary. Any proposal we develop and that the recipients agree to will have to be ratified by the Wizengamot."

Hermione arrived and gave a thumbs-up signal.

"It would spare the Families embarrassment if the Wizengamot could approve the plan as a whole, without detailing the sums to particular individuals or identifying each individual and Family," Doctor Sprout suggested.

"I suppose we could identify the individuals receiving the funds with the names they are using in the Muggle world, the amount of the funds, and just vaguely describe the legal violation for which they were being compensated, without naming the family or how much the family contributed to the restitution fund," Dad replied. "I can't see the Wizengamot settling for any less detail than that. What do you think, Madam Bones?"

"That seems the bare minimum, Minister."

"How many cases of known or probable wrong-doing do we have, Madam Bones?"

"There are twenty-one, Sir. Twenty, if we eliminate the Gaunt squib, where the line died out with Voldemort."

"Twenty-two if we count George Kempen," Harry added, to a scowl from Dad.

"I know he's a bad man," Harry replied, "but he does have a wife and children and we don't know what magic Bruce used initially to launch him on his life of crime."

Dad nodded, seeming to accept this.

"Doctor Sprout, Lord Montaigne, Lucius do the three of you concur with Madam Bones' count? That is, with Harry's addition, of course."

"We do," Lord Montaigne spoke for the group.

"Let's start with the second Gaunt child. What are the facts concerning that case?"

"A daughter, none too bright, placed with an adoptive Muggle family and subsidized by a contribution from the Montaignes. She received a stipend throughout her life. She married, one child, a son. The son was awarded a college scholarship through the Society, and he received a surprise inheritance when his mother died. He worked as an accountant, married, and had two daughters. The family is doing alright financially, although private school tuition for the girls was enough of a strain that the Society made a scholarship available for one, while the family paid for the other. No sign of magical ability in the family. No living Gaunts, so any restitution would have to come from the funds that you cited, Sir."

"It seems as though this family did better than it would have in the Wizard world. The Society will maintain its support of the girls," Lord Montaigne promised. "I don't think any more restitution is warranted, but we could see that each of the daughters receives a 50,000 pound inheritance from the pot of money that we have to dispense."

Everyone nodded that this would be acceptable. The group discussed the wisdom of telling the Gaunt daughter or her family about their heritage and decided that it was likely to lead to a violation of the secrecy act. This family wasn't magical and couldn't be brought into this world – likely would not want to change worlds.

"Let's look at the case of Mrs. Granger next. We know for certain that a serious miscarriage of justice occurred in this case. What do you suggest as restitution?" Dad asked.

"Well, as you say," Lucius began, "this is certainly among the most egregious cases and the one that brought this whole mess to our attention. Mrs. Granger would have been entitled to half of the money from the Black estate that went to my wife and her sister Bellatrix. Really a third, when you consider Sirius, but he got nothing but the house. The sisters received equal shares. I know that Narcissa received 15,000 gold galleons; almost two million pounds of Muggle currency, which would be worth about four million pounds today; and gems, jewelry, silver, and art worth perhaps 10,000 gold galleons.

"There also should be restitution for the abuse that Hermione received as a Muggle-born Witch and for her delayed magical development growing up in a Muggle household. I propose that Mrs. Granger be awarded 10,000 galleons and 2 million pounds sterling. I am temporarily strapped for cash, so the restitution would have to come from the funds seized from Bruce Montaigne, but I will pledge my utmost effort to recapitalize the New Society Fund as I restore my resources. For Hermione Granger, I suggest an award of 10,000 gold galleons. That would be a minimum. Any remaining contents of the vault belonging to Bellatrix and my wife are Hermione's property. This panel should issue a warrant to that effect, and Narcissa and I will sign it."

"You are in no position to declare what I will or will not sign," Narcissa was indignant. "We are talking about my inheritance, not your money. I don't even know why you made the proposal – none of the money you plan to give away is yours. You want to buy favor with the Minister by giving money to his supporters. What is done with Bruce's money is not your concern. As for what may be in the Black vault - this is Draco's and my decision to make, and ours alone. We also are not tainted by your involvement in the Squib project. You are trying to buy your freedom using money which is not yours. Stop pretending to be the big man that you no longer are. When we fled Hogwarts, you told me that I should not assume that there is still a 'we'. I give you the same warning."

"I thought you wanted a family reconciliation. I'm trying to do right by everyone," Lucius replied.

Narcissa glared at him. "Reconciliation to me does not mean that you get to assume control of me. There is a reason that Draco and I were invited to this meeting and that reason was not to sit here and allow you to make decisions for all of us, all by yourself. Am I correct Minister? Do you accept that my wealth and Draco's future are my husband's to dispose as he sees fit? I assumed that when you invited me here that it was an admission that I had a say in what happened, not that I was merely granted a seat to observe my fate a little quicker than my husband might choose to tell me."

"Of course you have a voice," Dad spluttered. "I don't know what Lucius was thinking, but I can assure you that I never assumed that he spoke for the three of you. Please – speak your mind. If the three of you need to step out into the hallway to discuss your position, feel free to do so. What do you want?"

"I want an accounting of our family finances and what my husband has done with my inheritance. I doubt he is as penniless as he claims or that he has given all of my money to Voldemort. I want to know what is to be left for Draco and for me. Anything presently in my vault is not my husband's to give away. I fear that Lucius wants to give away my remaining wealth so that I have no alternative other than Draco and I returning to live with him after he has bought his release from your jail. I will not be made that dependent and powerless. That vault was always my ultimate security. I know Lucius has assisted the Ministry in disposing of some items from my vault. I insist that nothing further be removed without my personal permission or an order of the Wizengamot. I have no need or desire to meet with Lucius in the hallway or anyplace else. Considering a family reconciliation appears to have been a very bad mistake. I find that I must protect myself and my son."

"Please be reasonable, Narcissa," Lord Montaigne implored. "We are talking about restitution for crimes committed against the laws governing treatment of Squibs. It is the Black family who violated the law. By right, it is the Blacks who are responsible for restitution. That is you. Lucius was merely speaking as the Great Family liaison to St. Mungo's and a member of the New Start Society directors. I shouldn't have to remind you that, as your husband, Lucius is also authorized, under Wizard law, to speak for all of his family. That also includes you."

"Then I demand a divorce!" Narcissa shouted. "I am within my rights. Lucius is jailed for serious crimes. He will certainly be convicted. I'm sure he has Muggle money that he is hiding from all of us, probably galleons as well. Don't be fooled by him. I doubt this committee will reduce any of the other Families to destitution and I will not have that done to me. I will go to the Wizengamot…" she began coughing and reached for coffee to moisten her throat, but was betrayed by her shaking hand. She spilled coffee all over herself and collapsed, a shaking bundle of sobs.

Draco ran to comfort his mother. Lucius tried to go to her side, but the aurors weren't pleased. Seeing him start to rise from his chair, Narcissa managed to croak "keep that man away from me!"

Dad found his voice, "I'm calling a fifteen minute break. Everyone except Narcissa and Draco – out of the room! If you please."

We all grabbed our coffee and moved into the hall.

I think most of us heard Lucius plead to Dad "I honestly wasn't trying anything underhanded. I didn't mean to cut out Narcissa or Draco. I made what I felt was a reasonable proposal."

"You are a fool," Lord Montaigne berated him. "You will bring the embarrassment to the Great Families, which we were all trying to prevent. Why didn't you speak to your wife, before opening your mouth? If you think the Families hate you now, just wait until your wife stirs up a ruckus in front of the Wizengamot. You have made this whole meeting pointless." 

Lucius was going to reply, but Lord Montaigne turned away and invited Dad to walk down the hall with him. None of us could tell what they were saying to each other. They were still chatting, when Draco joined us in the hallway.

"My mother is feeling better. I don't think she was ill, just super angry. She now wants father to remain in jail. I think they are both behaving badly. I have convinced her to listen to him – if he is willing to apologize."

Draco and his father whispered back and forth. The two of them went back into the conference room. I thought Lord Montaigne was correct. The rest of this meeting would be a waste.

Draco and his father returned just two minutes later. Draco gave Harry a shrug. As the rest of us started to file back into the conference room, Dad spotted the motion and walked back toward us. Once we were all seated, Dad announced a possible resolution.

"We can't do much of anything until we have an official inventory of what is in the Black family vault and the Malfoy family finances. That will be needed for either a divorce agreement or a restitution settlement. Narcissa is correct – if the Malfoy marriage is to be dissolved, then Lucius has no right to give away the remnants of her inheritance. Lord Montaigne is also correct that it is the Black family which owes restitution. I never intended to strip Narcissa of all her possessions. That is a monstrous suggestion. I want it placed on the record that there was no pre-existing agreement of any kind between Lucius Malfoy and myself prior to this meeting. I see now that his presence is most unhelpful. The Black restitution must be agreed by Narcissa and Draco.

"Lord Montaigne also correctly pointed out to me that Lucius has no standing whatsoever to propose how the funds seized from Bruce should be divvied up. Lord Montaigne feels that Lucius is using these proceedings to disadvantage the Montaigne family. He reminds me of Lucius's key role in the St. Mungo's mess and suggests that unless Lucius owes restitution to one of the Squibs, which he has not admitted to, then he really has no purpose in attending this meeting, since he has supplied none of the monies to be re-distributed."

"Yes," Lord Montaigne underlined the point "Lucius has represented some of the Great Families in their dealings with St. Mungo's and the New Start Society. I assured the Minister that by tomorrow morning, that will officially no longer be the case. It is clear to me that he has abused his position for personal gain. If I were Lucius, I would not be so foolish as to assert my right to anything before the Wizengamot. If Narcissa wants a divorce, he would be well advised to simply agree to her wishes. I can assure him that he is dead to the Wizengamot."

Lucius looked confused and defeated. The aurors were motioning for him to stand and seemed ready to lead him back to his cell.

"Please, wait… I didn't mean to dictate to my wife or to turn this meeting into a public fight. Nothing could hurt me more than that. If Narcissa wants a divorce, I won't object, but can we at least wait a week until we are all less emotional, before we decide that. In the meantime, I agree to have no input into the matter of Black restitution or, as I'm sure the good Lord fears, his own family's restitution. This has all turned around so quickly that I fear a conspiracy… that if I am returned to my cell, that I will not live out the night."

Now it was Draco who looked alarmed.

"Sitting here with us for another hour or two won't make Lucius any safer," Dad declared. "Please return him to his cell and post a special guard to make sure he stays safe."

"Now then, Narcissa, what do you regard as a fair settlement?"

"If Lord Montaigne accepts what Lucius proposed, I'm willing to evenly split with Hermione, whatever is left in my vault. I'll just take what's mine and she can have the vault. I know you all want to be able to tell the Goblins that it is her vault. I have no objection to that. I can't afford to keep renting the thing, anyway."

"I accept those terms," Lord Montaigne agreed.

Dad looked to the Grangers, and then to Hermione and Ron and then to Madame Bones. As there were no objections, Dad noted, "then that will be our recommendation."

"The next stickiest case is that of Harry Potter's grandfather. There is no reliable record that he agreed to be confunded or that he was tested for magical abilities. In fact, his confunding was a little early to preclude normal late development of magical talents. Lucius's father spoke to him of irregularities associated with this case. As the eldest brother, the boy seems to have had a very legitimate claim on the Montaigne title and estate, a claim which would pass to his heirs.

"His living heirs are Petunia Dursley, Dudley Dursley, and Harry Potter. The complications in this case include Harry's grandfather being left helpless against Wizard attacks by the confunding, and possibly being murdered by a Wizard as part of the Voldemort wars, or even to cover up his late development of magical talent. His murder, one that the Muggle police couldn't solve, certainly complicates this case. It is also reported that Petunia Dursley desperately wished to attend Hogwarts and was refused, although she has not displayed any magical abilities. Her son Dudley has also not shown magical ability.

"Harry Potter obviously has shown magical ability, as did his mother, who was murdered by Voldemort. Harry has some money left to him from his father's Peverell inheritance and a house left to him by Sirius Black. He has paid his own tuition to Hogwarts.

"I think that about sums it up. What restitution are you suggesting, Lord Montaigne? There is of course your title, your estate, the income from the estate, your holdings in the Muggle world and your holdings at Gringotts, and also the office of Keeper of The Covenant. While it isn't exactly the purpose of our restitution conference, the Wizengamot will have to ratify whatever we propose and the Wizengamot will have an interest in the continuance of the line of Keepers and Lord Montaignes in capable and untainted hands."

"Well," Lord Montaigne replied, "I don't necessarily concur with Lucius's statement that his father knew of improprieties regarding the testing of my elder brother. That is Lucius slandering my family for his own advantage. I will state for the record that Lucius has tried to extort me to marry off my daughter Cassy to Draco and heap a huge inheritance on them. This is his game and he has played it more than once. I don't see how Lucius could possibly know the truth about my brother. I myself don't know the truth of the matter. Although my father intimated the matter wasn't wholly on the up-and-up, he never hinted at the presence of magical ability. I am certainly not denying that a serious wrong was done to my brother, but I am not willing to accept Lucius's coloring of the incident. You now know his motives, along with his continuing anger that I would not support Voldemort.

"In any event, the Society seems to have been a bit lax in its support of Petunia and her family, possibly to avoid embarrassment to my family. I plan to meet the Dursleys and see for myself if they are suitable candidates for the Lordship or Keeper titles. Given what you and Harry have said about them, I doubt that they are. If that is the case, I propose a 3 million pound sterling award to both Petunia and Dudley. They will have no use for galleons.

"Harry is a tougher case. I think he will agree that he would find it nearly impossible to take over the Lordship and be accepted by the Muggles. I've offered to train both Harry and my daughter in the role of Keeper and to relinquish my post to one of them within five years, let's say the date my daughter graduates from Hogwarts. I would agree that they choose between themselves which of them is best suited to be Keeper and that, if they fail to agree, the Minister of Magic at that time have the deciding vote. Unless you leave office before the end of your term, you will be Minister at that time. If not you, it will be Harry.

"I propose that unless Dudley Dursley is deemed a good candidate, that my daughter succeed me as Lady Montaigne. I will draw up papers irrevocably disinheriting Bruce. I also will declare that no child fathered by me and born after this date shall be eligible to either the Keeper or the Montaigne titles.

"I propose that Harry be given 10 million pounds sterling, 10,000 gold galleons, a free 80 year lease on the store that he and George want to rent, two thousand acres of estate land on which he will be able to construct a home and farm if he wishes, and a quarter of the revenues from the estate for the lifetime of himself and his children. The 10 million pounds will allow Harry to establish several secure redoubts in the Muggle world."

"It appears that you are precluding Harry from being your successor as Keeper, if your daughter is to have title to the Hogwarts property," Dad observed. "The Keeper cannot function as Keeper without ownership of that land. I see that Harry is willing to accept the monetary settlement, but I see it as a bit paltry for giving up the arguable rightful ownership of the estate and your family's assets. I also think a settlement is owed to Harry's grandmother. Her husband's death was very suspicious. Why…"

"Pardon, Minister, but I really do think you have been listening too much to Lucius Malfoy. He was told some baseless allegations by his father. I am in a better position than you to know what a complete scoundrel Lucius's father was. It probably makes you a better Minister not to have grown up enmeshed in Great Family jealousies, rivalries, and back biting, but I assure you that matters between the Malfoys and the Montaigne's have always been rather bitter. Old man Malfoy lusted after our position. But, I apologize for the digression. I simply get very emotional imagining what Lucius must have said about my family. Of course I am willing to provide for Harry's grandmother. Is a million pounds satisfactory? Good. Now to Harry.

"The Lordship, in addition to the ownership of the Hogwarts lands, is what fully protects the school and the forest preserve from Muggle intrusion. I agree that there are difficulties with Potter as Keeper. I could stipulate that if Harry Potter becomes Keeper, that the southern third of the estate, which encompasses Hogwarts and its buffer land, could be purchased by Harry for, say, 5 million pounds sterling. I would be willing to increase my offered award to Harry by 5 million pounds. That last 5 million pounds would come from my holdings, rather than the assets seized from Bruce. I can also stipulate that if Cassy becomes the next Keeper, that Harry would retain the right of access to the Goblins that the Keeper is entitled to. There are two recorded cases of co-Keepers in the past. In one case, because one candidate had not yet graduated Hogwarts, and in the other case a birth mixup of two twins confused rightful inheritance. Both cases are germane to our situation. I would also stipulate in writing that Harry is a member of the Montaigne family with all rights of inheritance, such that the death of my daughter without leaving suitable progeny would leave the estate and Keeperhood to Harry and his descendants. The same would operate in reverse in favor of Cassy. Are you agreeable to that, Cassy?"

"Yes, father, I can accept that if Harry and the Minister find it acceptable."

Harry and Dad both agreed.

"Since the other cases are much more routine, perhaps Harry and his circle would best be served by leaving us to settle them so that they can prepare for Harry's meeting tomorrow," Dad suggested. "I believe you need to spend some time with Mrs. Malfoy

"I was hoping to have a brief discussion of Lucius's and Bruce's legal situations before the Deputy Minster departed," Lord Montaigne proposed.

"I suspected as much," Dad replied, "which is the primary reason I thought it best for Harry to depart. I don't want to sully his young hands. He already has conveyed his feelings to me on Lucius's case and I fear his working relationship with Cissy would be impaired by his involvement in Bruce's situation. I suspect that you intend to take advantage of the very forgiving stance that Harry tends to adopt on these matters, but he and Ginny were nearly killed twice in Bruce's attacks, so I think it unfair to ask him to participate in the discussion. My own involvement in such a discussion is ethically questionable, although since the case involves affairs of state and extradition requests, I suppose some extramural discussion is inevitable, but this is not the venue for that."

Harry took the hint and led us out of the conference room and back to his office. Narcissa came with us. Percy seemed reluctant to depart, but realized he had no choice but to do so. I noticed that Draco left the conference room a minute after us and alerted Harry. Harry stopped and waited for Draco to catch up.

"Thank you, Harry," Draco began. "From what the Minister said, I assume you have already put in a good word on my father's behalf. It's a real shame that my parents couldn't avoid messing it up. If you're going to meet with my mother, can I come with you? I'd also like you to transport me, along with my mother, to her hideout, so that I can have a long chat with her and convince myself that she is safe where she is. I need to plan how to work things out if father ever will be joining us at Hogwarts. I guess, I really need to get my mother calmed down. She won today, but now she has to not destroy father. I don't know if I even want my father at Hogwarts, even for a short time. He and Pansy are a big complication, if they are too close together. But I'm sure you already knew that."


	36. Chapter 36

**Chapter Thirty-Six – We Learn More about How Things Really Are**

"I'm not sure that would be a wise thing for me to do. Your mother is staying at my house and I don't want to give you the ability to apparate there. It's a matter of my security. I could bring your mother back to my office, if you want to see her".

"My mother has been staying at your house? Alright, I won't take offense if you don't want to take me home with you. Meeting in your office will be fine. Eventually you'll figure out that I really am not a threat to you. The Death Eaters hate me almost as much as they hate you. You're a fellow Great Family kid now, anyway."

While Harry and Narcissa were meeting, Draco asked, "Why do you think Lord Montaigne raised the issue of my Dad's release, during that meeting? He also really wanted my father taken back to his jail cell. He succeeded, although father certainly didn't help his own cause. He refuses to recognize that his side lost and things have changed."

"Because he really wanted to talk about Bruce and needed Harry as an ally," Hermione replied. "He thought because he has just made a deal and agreed to open the exciting new world of The Keeper to Harry, that this was the likeliest time to get Harry's help to convince the Minister, especially if the Minister is willing start being generous with the less severe threat that your father represents. Harry doesn't like Bruce, but he doesn't want to see him Avada Kedavraed, either, so he might look favorably toward some sort of leniency. Frankly, Harry is likelier to blurt out the administration's bottom line position on Bruce, than the Minister or Shacklebolt. Lord Montaigne is still in a dream world about Bruce's future. I know Victor Krum and Monsieur Delacour. As to your father – I don't think Lord Montaigne wants your family involved in a discussion of his affairs. I think he also saw your father's actions as destroying his friendly atmosphere to plead for Bruce. Your father really underestimates how much Lord Montaigne resents your father strong-arming him to marry off his daughter to you."

"He also underestimates how much I resent it."

Hermione continued. "I can guarantee you that if Bruce is released on exile, anywhere, even if he is thoroughly confunded to block his magical powers and sense of his own gloriousness, he'll be hunted down and killed in a far slower and more painful way than a judicial 'Avada Kedavra'. If Lord Montaigne were thinking even halfway straight, he'd realize that. Even his daughter knows that to be the case. As for me, it's nice that my parents have enough money to stay in this world, should they choose, and that Ron and I will be able to lead the lives we wish, but I still can't help feeling that I've just been bought, in a rather tawdry way. A lawyer could probably win us as much or more, but now it seems like a present from Lord Montaigne and your father, for which future payment is expected. Really, it's far more wealth than I need or want. The Elves will make good use of a large part of it."

Draco was prepared to disagree, but before he could open his mouth, Harry returned with Narcissa. We all went into Harry's office.

"Harry said that you were anxious to see me," Narcissa said to her son. "I stayed here primarily to sign a paper for Harry telling the Goblin King that I forgive Harry for breaking into the family vault in order to steal the Voldemort horcrux, hold the bank harmless, and ask the bank to view the theft as in the best interests of all magical creatures, because of the emergency need to stop Voldemort. I also confirm my part in stopping the Dark Lord. Harry also asked me if I had changed my mind about being willing to have our family reunited if Lucius were released on parole and whether I would guarantee your and my good behavior. I told him that I want to live with you at Hogwarts, but I'm not willing to include your father, just yet. I haven't ruled it out, forever, but he reminded me today why a reconciliation with him is unlikely to succeed. I hope I didn't over-step in promising your good behavior, as well as my own."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I am really worried that father will be murdered if he stays in jail. I don't really want to live with him and I'm not at all sure that you should be with him, but I don't want him to die. I certainly want Dad out on bail and if you are willing to live with him, so will I, but where would we live? The Death Eater threat isn't over, and I doubt Dad would be any happier living with you at Potter's house than I would. Nor do I think Harry would feel safe with us there. I'm surprised you've gotten on okay living in that dank place by yourself. I do hope that you and Dad can make peace and that you can support his release, even if the two of you never see each other again. I think that without today's blowup, he would have been set free very soon. Now I just don't know. I really am very worried about him being murdered while he's in jail. I know that Dad said that, but I was already thinking it. I asked Potter to put in a good word."

"I've had Kreacher to keep me company and Harry had another guest at the house for a time, which made for a nice change of pace, once we got to know each other. I thought perhaps you and I could stay at Hogwarts for a time. It would be safe and we might work up to visits from your father. He would be away more than he was there. Part of the reason the Minister would release him would be to raise money. Your father wants the estate back and the Minister wants revenue. If that's what is needed, I'll go into the Muggle world and steal money myself. That's all that your father will do. I won't be comfortable doing that, or spending a lot of time among the Muggles, but if that is what it takes to keep you safe, then I shall do it. I will not have either of us being dependent upon your father. It isn't safe. Don't frown. I promise to think some more about a reconciliation. Perhaps your father wasn't trying to dominate me today. It is hard for him to be anything other than the old Lucius… at least in manner. I won't say that he definitely can't try living with us at Hogwarts – at some future time."

"Do you really think McGonagall would allow him to live at Hogwarts, since his last visit was an attack? I'm not sure that I want him there with Pansy. He'll just try to force me to send her home."

"Harry said that Lucius took a pledge to be on his good behavior. You could ask Professor McGonagall tonight. We can talk to your father, but I don't want to do that just yet. Your father is correct that we both need a week to cool off. Lucius can live anywhere. Until he can raise enough funds to get the estate back, he'll find any place as good or as bad as any other, and spend most of his time working and sleeping in the City. It'll give him hope and freedom and a chance to be responsible for his own defense and survival. The Minister will have to give him a long leash: he has no way of supervising him in the City, so why keep him on a choke collar when Lucius is at his temporary home? If Lucius ever wants to escape, he'll just slip away from work and never be seen again. He won't do that because he doesn't want to lose you. I'll make certain that he doesn't interfere between you and Pansy. That will be an absolute requirement of his living near either of us."

Harry had four copies of the note to the Goblin King. Narcissa and Harry had each signed all four, Harry giving two to Percy for the Ministry and Harry's copies, saving one for the King, and giving the other to Narcissa. It looked like it was going to be a long, boring wait for the meeting to end, but then Cissy came out and joined us. She looked at me and explained her presence. "It was like Minister Weasley noticed that I was still there and gave me this 'what are you here for' look. He just said 'this must be very boring for Cissy, she'd likely be far happier joining the other students'. I took that as a very strong hint to depart. I know that for some reason, my father wanted me to stay in the meeting. I'm not even sure why I was here today. My father said Lucius Malfoy thought my presence would be 'beneficial'. So here I am. This is a very nice office Harry, although I see you have done absolutely nothing to personalize it. You should make the effort. You'll feel much more at home and visitors will both get a better impression of you and more of a sense that you are in charge on your own turf, rather than having just borrowed somebody else's office."

"I've not been Deputy Minister long," Harry said apologetically, "but I do sort of feel like an interloper who is here only because Minister Shacklebolt was injured. It's going to take a while to get used to my new position. I find your comment a little unusual by the way, since your office space back at the castle is more impersonal than mine. Although, I admit, the little office that Professor McGonagall gave me back at Hogwarts, so I could do Ministry business during the mornings, seems a lot more like my space than this does. I have moved a lot of my books and things, including my broom, into that office. I visited this office so many times when it was Mr. Weasley's that I still think of it as his. During the campaign, it was weeks until he could bring himself to move into Shacklebolt's space and still, he verbally apologized every time we entered the Minister's office saying 'Kingsley will always be the Minister to me'. Percy actually uses this office as much as I do. I guess what I really need to do is get a more appropriate office for Percy. He has a smallish one that's way too far from here. He and Callista handle the Deputy Minister business, when I'm at Hogwarts."

"Well, to answer your question, I'm very definitely squatting in a corner of my father's space. Now that we are officially trainee Keepers, I am going to insist on a space that is clearly mine. I've heard quite a lot about Percy from my father. He should make a very effective assistant for you." Looking directly at Percy, she continued, "You just have to make sure he doesn't start thinking of himself as the Deputy Minister, even just when you're at Hogwarts."

This shocked Percy to attention. "No, I'm very definitely the assistant in this office. I conduct business during the times when Harry is at Hogwarts, as he wants me to do, but I don't finalize anything until after I review it with him the next time he is in the office. There aren't many things that I or the Deputy Minister get to decide, anyway. We advise the Minister and do what he doesn't have time to do."

"I wasn't suggesting otherwise, just kidding you a little about your very well-known ambition," Cissy replied, smiling sweetly. "Although, I'm not sure the Minister didn't ask Harry to leave the meeting, in order to get rid of Percy. I certainly felt awkward sitting there. I guess I needed to be there for the part about Harry and me and the Keeper and Lord/Lady duties, but it seemed very rude to be listening to discussions of other people's families. I didn't want to stay, but didn't know if it would be rude to get up and leave. That whole situation is a sordid mess. Restitution is important, but I don't think the three families who were discussed would be pleased that I sat in on the discussion that took place after you left. I think Draco's father wanted both Draco and me present for the discussion of the Parkinson family. The Minister excused me just as that was about to start."

"I need to meet with the Minister and Shacklebolt to review where my advisors and I stand in this administration," Harry vowed. "My advisors at Hogwarts ought to be able to attend important meetings at the Ministry. I know one change I'll make, Percy. I want you and Callista to make a written list of all the business that you tentatively transact in my absence and things that we jointly decide when I'm here, so that I have something to review with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny when I get back to Hogwarts. Where is Callista, by the way?"

"I sent her to find the transcripts of the recent meetings that Ministers Thicknesse, Shacklebolt, and Weasley conducted with the Goblin King, so that we can properly prepare for your lunch meeting tomorrow. If you, and whichever of your Hogwarts advisors you prefer to bring, can be here tomorrow morning, we can all review the current state of play with the Goblin world."

"That was a very good idea, Percy," Harry complimented him. "There is one more thing I'd like you to check for me, although it may involve some travel if Viktor has already departed. The resident Goblins at Durmstrang took part in the attack at that school. I'd like to know if that was encouraged by the Goblin King. In fact, I guess I need a far better understanding of how much sway the King has with the Goblins on the Continent and what we should know about the Continental Goblins."

"You don't ask much. Viktor hasn't left yet - he and Cho were waiting in the library to say goodbye to Minister Weasley, and I suspect to get in some lobbying on Bruce. I'll duck down and talk to them, and then bring them back to your office. I'm sure they'd like to say goodbye to all of you, as well." Percy left the office with a very purposeful stride.

Cissy seemed to be deciding whether or not to speak, but finally she contributed what she knew. "Father thinks that Bruce was in contact with the Goblins in Europe, and that he may have paid them to help the Grindelwald faction. Father had met the leader of the European Goblins a year ago, when he came to meet with the Goblin King. I believe he is largely independent of, but subservient to, our Goblin King. The European Goblin leader's name is Ruppasta Minta, and he lives inside a mountain about a hundred miles south of Durmstrang. I know that he has twice a year meetings with the French Minister and once a year with the German Ministry. Father must meet with the Goblin King about twenty times a year. I know he told the King that he planned to make Harry and me both trainee Keepers, before he made the offer to us. I didn't know it was going to happen until he told both of us, but after you left, he said he had already cleared it with the Goblin King, and the King was receptive to the idea. I think the King feels my father doesn't have the sway within the Wizarding community that he once did. The problem is not so much the scandal with father's brother as the scandal with Bruce and a totally new faction taking over the Ministry of Magic."

"I was wondering why you call yourself Cissy as short for Cassiopeia, but your father calls you Cassy, which is closer to the natural nickname," Hermione asked.

"It started as a nickname that Bruce gave me. He called me 'Sissy' for little sister, and I changed that to Cissy. Dad compromised on Cassy, rather than Cassie, which is what he originally called me. With all the Bruce problems and the way he treated me two summers ago, I should go back to Cassie, but it doesn't sound quite natural to me."

Percy returned with Viktor and Cho. "I'd like to go with you to meet the Goblin King," said Victor, "but that probably isn't wise, since that would divert your meeting to Cho's spying and the attack on Durmstrang. I would like to talk to him about Durmstrang. I'll hang around tomorrow to see if you can arrange a meeting for me. I've had one meeting with our very own Ruppasta Minta, but that went less than well. He denied responsibility for anything and said I had to speak to his King. I spoke to Monsieur Delacour about this and he said that Ruppasta was giving me the runaround. He said Ruppasta usually operates quite independently and that he had gotten very tight with Minister LeDoux. LeDoux gave him permission to establish a Goblin village in part of the Paris catacombs. There are now nearly a hundred Goblins down there. The quid pro quo was charmingly described in the memorandum as 'certain political assistance.' I think the Goblins view Durmstrang as their greatest threat, since we turn out the best magical engineers in the Wizarding world. Magical Engineering isn't taught at all at Hogwarts, but there is a small apprentice program at your Ministry."

"It's very good to see you again, Cho," Harry greeted her. "I'm very sorry that we got you in trouble with your employer. You were correct in seeing the importance of letting the money transfer go through and alerting us. Without your help, Bruce would still be leading the Grindelwalds. You should be going to Durmstrang as a heroine."

"Thanks, Harry, and thanks for the warning to get out of Gringotts. I'm not sure I'll be able to return to work. You may get a better idea of that when you meet with our chairman. For now, I'm looking forward very much to seeing Durmstrang."

"You and Viktor?" Draco mused. "That makes your third Triwizard Champion. You've now dated everyone but Fleur." Narcissa gave Draco a shove on that one.

"Well, I never actually dated Harry, although we did snog. That was messed up by that Umbridge woman. I think you could say, Draco, that the Triwizard Champions are simply very superior Wizards. Very handsome, too. Far better than the Slytherin boys. Your lot seems to appeal more to the stupid girls like Pansy Parkinson."

"I was just making an observation of an odd coincidence, there was no need to get so touchy," Draco replied. "Pansy may not be as smart as you are, but she's not stupid and we get along very well together."

"I wasn't offended," Cho replied. "Being known as the girlfriend of Cedric, or Harry, or Viktor is not at all the sort of thing that a Witch feels defensive about. Since the conversation seemed to have suddenly shifted toward commenting upon perceived oddities, I just noted how strange it seemed that a rich Slytherin kid, who sees himself as Voldemort's chosen pet and a future master of the universe, would choose someone like Pansy as his girlfriend. No offense intended."

Draco was thinking of a response that was appropriately stinging and also permissible in front of his mother, when Lord Montaigne, and Dad arrived. Lord Montaigne was the first to speak "are you ready to head back to the castle, Cassy?" Cissy indicated that she would prefer to return to Hogwarts for dinner and petition Professor McGonagall directly. Lord Montaigne nodded, and headed down to the lobby to apparate.

Dad then took charge, saying "well, Lucius is back in his cell, perhaps you would like to meet privately with him, Narcissa and Draco. He is very anxious to speak to you. I'll be presumptuous and offer you Harry's office. I need to speak to him, alone, in my office." I told Harry that the rest of us would meet him in the library, after he finished with Dad.

The Malfoys both agreed. Percy stayed behind at the assistant's desk in Harry's ante-room, determined to defend the office from the Malfoys.

Before we set up shop in the library, I grabbed Hermione and shunted her into the Witches' room, kicking open all of the stall doors to search for prying ears, before opening my mouth. "I heard you telling Pansy how dumb it was to nag Draco about Cissy and to appear to be all jealous, and desperate, and controlling. I had to admit to Harry last night that I was feeling a wee bit jealous of Callista. That's why I hung back after our meeting with Professors McGonagall and Trelawney. I wanted to pump McGonagall for information on Callista. She told me quite a lot, actually."

"That was a remarkably dumb move for such a bright Witch as yourself. How did Harry take it?"

"Remarkably well. He was a little taken aback at first, but said I had no reason to worry, that neither he nor Callista were interested in each other. I apologized to Harry and he seemed fine. I think he was happy that I told him what I was thinking."

"That works the first time, but usually not too often. You need to control those thoughts. Harry is the totally faithful type."

"I really do know that."

"We all have these times when an emotional monster takes over for our brains and we become a danger to ourselves and others. You need to learn to avoid that. If you can't avoid it, then at least give yourself a day or two before you act on the thoughts. Talking to McGonagall? Do you really want to give her the power of knowing how jealous you are?"

"No, I don't and it sounds really stupid when you say it like that, especially since I don't see McGonagall as this sympathetic figure. How do I do that – controlling my jealous thoughts.?"

"Recognizing that you are subject to the problem is a first step. Try to sense these emotional panics coming on and then delay acting on them until you are more settled and rational. What you have to do is engage in activities that you enjoy and get your mind in a happy place. For me, spending time at the library or reading a Muggle book helps, but you'll have to find your own mind balm. You also need to realize what an incredible Witch you are and how lucky Harry is to have you as his girlfriend."

"Thanks."

"So, what did Professor McGonagall tell you about Callista?"

I repeated what Professor McGonagall had told me and Hermione said that the family issues that Callista was investigating for Harry were of great interest to her. She suggested that we both sit down with Callista soon and work together on what Hermione was sure was an area of mutual interest. I assured Hermione that I definitely was interested.

We hung out in the library for over an hour, waiting for Harry to return. Much of the time was spent discussing Draco's snide comments, with Cissy seemingly trying to establish herself as one of our group. We did look for more information on recent Wizard/Goblin relations and anything that we could find on the founding of Hogwarts. We found a lot of nothing, but toward the end, two gems turned up: an archival copy of a written agreement among the founders of Hogwarts, and the agreement issued by the Ministry allowing the Goblins to set up Gringotts bank. We set the magical pens the task of making copies of these parchments. Each was less than three pages in length. It doesn't take a lot of words to document an historic agreement.

Harry and Dad met us in the library. They seemed to be getting along alright. Harry said it was time to return to Hogwarts. We waited a few minutes for the pens to finish our copies and took them with us back to Harry's ante-room. Dad knocked on the door of Harry's office, stuck his head in and announced "time's up, what's the plan, Lucius."

"Narcissa and Draco will go back to Hogwarts and I'll go back to my office and try to raise some funds. There are some remaining Great Family accounts that can be liquidated to help pay for the Squib settlements, concerning their families. That will leave more of the Montaigne money to give to the families of the French and German students killed in Bruce's plot." Lucius headed for the Entry Hall, while the rest of us, including Viktor and Cho, headed back to Hogwarts.

We wanted to head straight to our common room to exchange thoughts, but the disposition of the others was awkward. Narcissa happily proposed to accompany Draco to the library to collect Pansy, and then back to Slytherin. Draco had to tell his mother that Slytherin was currently not available. Narcissa then said that they would hunt up Professor McGonagall together "to learn where we can bunk down."

We wanted Cho and Viktor to come back to Gryffindor with us, but did not want to include Cissy. Cissy seemed to sense this and suggested that she would go off to try to meet with McGonagall and join us for dinner. It was possible that she just wanted to catch McGonagall before the Slytherins did. We said goodbye to her and headed back to Gryffindor. Mom was there and seemed very interested in participating, perhaps to get a clearer view of what Dad was doing at the Ministry. I asked Harry if he could talk about his meeting with Dad.

"It started badly, but I think it ended okay. I told the Minister that I realized that I was added to the ticket to win the election, not to participate in governing and that I would give him the resignation that he clearly wanted, so that he and Shacklebolt could get on with governing together. He said he did not want me to resign and asked why I thought he wanted my resignation. I said it sent a rather clear and humiliating message when he chucked me out of the meeting, keeping Shacklebolt and even Cissy. He said keeping Cissy in the meeting was a mistake, which he quickly corrected, but that he felt this was still rightfully Shacklebolt's administration.

"Shacklebolt said that was stupid, that he was perfectly happy and content to be leading the auror corps, and that he saw this as a chance for personal redemption. Shacklebolt sees the traitors within the auror corps as a terrible indictment on his own judgment and competence. He even suggested that Voldemort couldn't have taken over the Ministry so easily if he, Shacklebolt, hadn't messed up with his management of his department within the aurors. He said for a Minister who previously led aurors to be assassinated by hand-picked members of his own guard was proof of that Minister's unfitness to be Minister. He said Arthur and I had to be a team now and there was absolutely no reason for either of us to think that we had shunted him aside. He said he was grateful that I had stepped forward to help the cause after he was hospitalized and that he saw me as fully able to serve as Deputy Minister. He said whether the ticket was Shacklebolt/Weasley or Weasley/Potter the whole Wizarding community saw it as two representatives of the group that defeated Voldemort.

"Given the very large role that our generation had in defeating Voldemort, he felt it very appropriate to have a two-generation team in charge. He complimented all of us on our work at Beauxbatons and the recent fights at Hogwarts. Arthur apologized to me and said he had been taking his own guilt at usurping Shacklebolt out on me, and that he was wrong to remove me from the meeting. He said he wanted to remove Percy and you three, but that was unfair because he had pushed me to take Percy as an aide and that I had a right to pick my own advisors.

"Shacklebolt convinced Arthur that a big part of the problem was that Arthur had failed to pick any aides of his own, beyond Prudence, who is basically a scheduler and receptionist. He said he had a full-time job rebuilding the auror corps and chasing the remaining Death Eaters and couldn't be Arthur's primary aide. Arthur agreed to do this. He said one of the things he has been grappling with is a difficulty recognizing that his children are grown up and ready for significant responsibility. He said seeing how Lord Montaigne treats Cissy made this painfully clear to him. He said Professor McGonagall had told him that the Order was depopulated and aging and that it was past time to depend more heavily on a very able next generation. We ended the meeting with a hug. I realize that isn't wholly professional, but it worked at the time.

"I'm relating all of this, because Arthur specifically asked me to do so. He also told me to tell all of his children that he plans to talk to them, which is you, individually. Percy will be moving into Umbridge's old office tomorrow. Arthur said I should pick my own security team head, and I chose Bill. He also asked me to recommend a responsible young Hogwarts grad for him to add as an aide. I suggested Wood. He concluded by saying that the meeting with the Goblin King could be very significant and he wanted to sit down with us tomorrow morning to discuss strategy. So, as I said, the meeting ended well."

"I'm glad that's resolved," Mom said. "I was expecting this would come to a head fairly soon. I hope that you will be patient with Arthur and that he will be patient with you. This is all very new to him and he feels guilty that he and not Shacklebolt is Minister. He hasn't taken my advice of late as much as I had hoped he would. All of you have to remember that, just like Professor McGonagall, Arthur still has a tendency in the back of his mind to still see you as children. I do too. We Wizards are very protective of our young. There is also a generational guilt that we didn't deal with Voldemort permanently before you had to become involved. On the other hand, I'm hoping your offer to resign doesn't reflect that rash impetuousness with which you sometimes confront frustration. Professor McGonagall and I both think you need to keep working on that. Not to be bound up by contemplation instead of acting, but to at least dispassionately weigh the possibilities and discuss them with your advisors, if that is at all possible. On the other hand, if this was a clever way to force Arthur to confront his own ambivalence with his new position, then I congratulate you.

"You all need to make a point of sharing your activities with Arthur, in advance. The Deputy Minister is a helper to the Minister, not an independent actor. I'm going to insist on lunching with Arthur tomorrow, while you're off with the Goblin King. Both of you have to keep working to make this partnership work. Its failure would have grave consequences for the Wizarding community."

"I'm glad you said that," Harry said. "I sometimes feel the original Order members resent us a bit. Protectiveness and guilt are annoying, but easier to live with. I hope you will give me and all of us guidance from time to time on things that we can do to minimize the friction."

"I'll do that," Mom said, looking relieved.

Harry had remembered something else. "Oh, I almost forgot. The Minister said that he didn't want us to think that his actions at the restitution conference were about foisting more money on us then we wanted to have, or enriching his children. To quote him exactly, he said 'money can be very easily translated into political power. This seemed the quickest way to separate Lord Montaigne and the Malfoys from some of their cash reserves. I don't know if Lucius has hidden a pile of money, but if he has, I know Montaigne will find it. If you don't want the money, you can always use it for good works'. He brought that up himself, I didn't force the issue. I got the impression that the Minister would prefer that we not keep the bulk of the money."

"I certainly intend to help the Elves and the poor Wizard farmers," Hermione declared.

Harry picked up the lead again, asking "Do any of you have information on the Goblins that can help? I don't even know how many Goblins there are, or what their goals are."

"I can give you more background," Viktor promised. "After the Battle of Durmstrang, I made a point of studying the Goblins. I can tell you that there are fewer Goblins than there are Wizards, only about two thousand Goblins in Britain and another thirty-five hundred on the Continent. They don't exist elsewhere in the world. They still bear a huge grudge from the ancient Wizard-Goblin wars and what they feel is their present marginalization. They think they are smarter than us, better educated, less subject to fits of collective insanity than we are, and that we basically couldn't exist without them. Interestingly, their views are often the mirror image of our own. They see themselves as honest, industrious, committed to fair play, devoutly religious, and extremely discriminated against, while seeing us as lazy, cheating, greedy, basically uneducated, uncultured, emotionally immature and immoral incompetents who are content to live off the labor of Elves, Goblins, and past generations of Wizards. They fervently believe that all magical creatures would be better off if ruled by Goblins.

"When you meet with them, don't be surprised if they want to impress you with their writers, artists, artisans, and inventors, or if they pointedly ask you to name some Wizard counterparts. They feel that the only thing dumber than Quidditch is going to war with members of your own species.

"They recognized Bruce as dangerous and insane and gave him limited cooperation, just to hedge their bets in case he captured the Continental Wizard government or became the next Keeper. They see Bruce and Voldemort as proof that Wizards are both inferior and likely doomed to self-destruction.

"They are jealous that the Centaurs have an above-ground sanctuary, but are rather fond of the Unicorns. They think we greatly undervalue the Elves. They hate the Giants and regard them as unthinking animals. In the distant past, the Giants nearly wiped out the Goblins.

"One last thing, don't be confused by the title 'King', it isn't hereditary. The King rules for life, but he's selected on the basis of merit, with the whole population judging something like an elaborate Triwizard Tournament combined with a talent show. The current Goblin King is a first-rate impressionist artist. All of the drawings in his office were done by him. Remember to be suitably complimentary, but do it with finesse and some indication that you understand and appreciate art, not just the typical sucking up. I've been reading up on cast metal sculpture, because that's the genre of our own Ruppasta Minta".

"Thank you, Victor," Harry said, "that helps a lot. Since you mentioned Bruce, I should tell you that there is a lot of debate at the Ministry about what can be done with him. British Wizards don't believe in capital punishment, which hurts your chances of extradition, after what happened to Meier and the other captured prisoners. Normally, he would spend the rest of his life in Azkaban, but Azkaban has turned into an unreliable means of securing prisoners. Everyone knows that the Montaigne's request for banishment with confunding for Bruce is a nonstarter. He also is obviously insane, despite the botched effort to have Doctor Sprout attest to that. The importunings of Lord Montaigne are viewed as unseemly and little short of blackmail, given his position as Hogwarts' landlord, Keeper and principle liaison to the Goblins. That has to be changed soon. What do you think can and should happen with Bruce? I knew this topic was bound to come up while you were at Hogwarts and wanted to do it now, while Cissy is elsewhere."

"I honestly don't think anything but Bruce's death at their own hands will satisfy the French. Their losses have been enormous. As the new Minister, Monsieur Delacour has no choice but to insist upon this resolution. German losses are minor by comparison, so I am under much less pressure from my constituents. I would honestly be appalled and revolt against any verdict that gave Bruce any sort of freedom to continue his life, such as his father's proposed exile to Australia. I'd willingly lead the party to hunt him down and kill him. Such a result would also cause a severe schism between the Wizards of Britain and the Continent. I think Lord Montaigne realizes that exile is out of the question and that this initial proposal is simply a prelude to the real solution he seeks, which will be some sort of confinement under the watch of aurors and a doctor in his father's castle or on the estate. If it were a sufficiently Spartan existence, I could live with that, although I wouldn't like it.

"I'm certain the French could not accept it. Their bottom line position is likely to be trial and lifetime imprisonment in the French Wizard jail in the basement of the Ministry. You could insist that they provide extensive medical treatment and supervision to deal with his mental issues. That has its advantages for you, as you won't have to answer to the Montaignes for any perceived ill-treatment of Bruce, or to the Wizards of all three nations should Bruce escape. That might also induce Montaigne to live most of the year in France to be near to his son, which leaves the Keeper post more open to you.

"If Bruce were tried in Britain, where would you imprison him? You can't trust Azkaban and you probably don't want him locked up inside the Ministry, with his father visiting every day and mixing requests for his son with business where the Ministry needs his help. Far better to be able to simply say that you'll forward whatever request he makes to Monsieur Delacour."

"I know you're right," Harry replied. "I think there will be trouble before the Bruce situation is resolved. I'm glad I can't be added to the Wizengamot until I graduate from Hogwarts. I have no desire to vote on Bruce while having to work regularly with Lord Montaigne and Cissy. I'm going to keep my mouth shut on this one."

"I've been reading the Gringotts' charter," Hermione informed us. "It makes very interesting reading. The charter is dated 1690, which coincides with the Wizard Secrecy Act. It gives the board of the bank the right to establish a bank within the newly created Diagon Alley section of London and grants it an exclusive license for 300 years to conduct a business in 'the secure storage of valuables owned by magical beings, the making of loans to these beings at an interest fee not to exceed 3 per centum per annum, the collection of taxes for the Wizard Ministry of Magic, and the construction and ownership of necessary commercial properties in said Diagon Alley'. In return for this exclusive license to operate, said board of directors will expand to provide directorships to be occupied by the Minister of Magic and the Headmaster of Hogwarts. The Gringotts Bank shall pay any magical creature who provides capital to be lent a rate of return equal to one per centum per annum and shall guarantee that magical creature against the loss of any principal. The bank shall protect the privacy of title of both valuables in storage and capital to be lent. The Gringotts Bank shall not engage in sedition against either the duly elected Minister of Magic or the Goblin King. Wealth deposited by a Goblin or Wizard traitor to the King or Minister shall be forfeit to the Goblin King or Ministry of Magic, respectively.

"The Ministry and Hogwarts will receive, without payment of principal, twenty per centum and ten per centum of the shares of the Gringotts Company. The Goblin King and the Montaigne Family, as Keeper of the Covenant, shall each pay in capital principal in the sum of 100,000 gold galleons each, for which each will receive 35% of the shares in Gringotts Company. The Goblin King and the Keeper shall each be Directors of the Gringotts Bank. The Goblin King shall name the fifth, and final, Director. The Goblin King shall serve as Chairman of the Gringotts Bank, but shall be accountable to the Board of Directors. The Directors shall meet at least twice per year on the day of the Spring and Fall Equinoxes and at any other time at the call of the Chairman or petition of any three Directors.

"In addition to any dividends paid to the shareholders of Gringotts Bank, that Company shall pay taxes to the Wizard Ministry of Magic in the amount of ten per centum of profits, and to the Goblin King in the amount of five percentum of profits. Gringotts Bank shall have sovereign control over its building and the territory beneath it, not to exceed an area of one acre from the surface to a depth of a hundred feet and five acres beneath that depth."

"So their charter, or at least their exclusive charter, has expired," Harry analyzed. "I'll ask the Minister tomorrow if the provisions have been renewed, and on what terms."

"What stands out to me," George said indignantly "is that the bank has a monopoly on lending money to Wizards and yet it doesn't actually lend money. Which is why guys like me can't start a new business unless they have a rich friend, like Harry."

"That would be a way that the Goblins and Montaignes could conspire to prevent Wizard progress. The end of the monopoly could explain the increased Goblin interest in Wizard affairs," Cho suggested.

"We'd better head to dinner," Hermione prompted. "We don't want to abandon Cissy to the Slytherins. I'm also anxious to hear how Professor McGonagall responded to her plea."

"One last thing before we go," Cho interrupted. "I just wanted to let you know that Viktor and I will be leaving tomorrow night and that I may not be returning to Britain for some time. I really like Viktor and if there is something purposeful for me to do at Durmstrang, I plan on staying. I doubt that I could return to Gringotts in any event, so I'm going to move forward. I will keep in touch."

We made it to dinner ahead of the Slytherins. Hermione's parents were already seated to Professor McGonagall's left, with Cissy perched on the edge of the chair to McGonagall's right. Cissy gave us a thumbs-up signal when she saw us enter the Hall. I sat next to her and the rest of us filled in. Cissy excitedly blurted out to me "I'm in Gryffindor!"

I was surprised when Harry asked if we could change seats so that he could dine between Cissy and Professor McGonagall, with Hermione's parents seated across from him. I think everyone was surprised when Harry asked his select dinner companions to tell him everything they could remember about impressionist painting. Professor McGonagall was even more surprised when Harry asked her if she was a member of the Gringotts' Board of Directors. She shook her head no and gave him a quizzical look. Harry gave her the copy of the Bank's charter, which she returned at breakfast, along with her promise to call in at the bank within the next week.

Viktor and Cho slept in Gryffindor, claiming one of the boys' dorm rooms for themselves. Cissy shared a room with Hermione, Luna, and me. For the moment, McGonagall had installed Mrs. Malfoy and the Slytherins in the Hufflepuff common room.

In the morning Harry, Hermione, Ron, Cissy, Cho, Viktor and I apparated to Harry's ante-room at the Ministry, where Percy awaited us. He dispatched Callista to let the Minister's assistant know that we had arrived. We settled into Harry's office to wait for Dad to be free to meet with us.

"We found a copy of the 1690 charter for Gringotts," Harry explained, handing the document to Percy. "It expired in 1990. I'd like you to find out whether it was extended or replaced and any new terms and conditions. Also, it sounds like Professor McGonagall and your father should have seats on the Gringotts' Board. Could you check on that, as well?"

"I'll do that as soon as we finish your briefing," Percy promised. "That should take a little over an hour. How do you intend to spend the rest of your time before the meeting, and will you be needing me?"

"Unless the Minister needs me, I thought I'd pop over to the National Gallery. I'll be back in time to find out if you've learned anything new."

Dad entered Harry's office and took a seat, saying we might as well meet here. Significantly, Shacklebolt wasn't with him, although Prudence was. "Wood is going to start tomorrow," Dad reported. "He was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with me. I've begun a review of Ministry employees to find a second assistant. I believe Percy has prepared a briefing paper for us."

"Um, yes," Percy staggered out of the start, surprised to be called on so quickly. "What I found in the recent Minister/Goblin King meeting memoranda dovetails nicely with what Hermione dug up in the library concerning the original charter for Gringotts Bank. As you doubtless already know, the charter for that institution expired in 1990. Since then, the Goblin King seems quite frankly obsessed with securing a renewal on favorable terms. To date, there has been no long-term renewal, although Thicknesse was edging close to one at the last meeting.

"Most of the negotiations were with Minister Fudge. The primary sticking points were the exclusivity of the bank's license and the failure of the bank to lend any money since around 1710. There was also a lot of sniping back and forth on the tax rates, with the Goblin King wanting an equal share to the Ministry's and the Ministry complaining that the bank only reported profits from dealings with Wizards, whereas the charter intended that the bank would serve all magical creatures. Minister Fudge was perplexed that the bank reported minimal dealings and no profits produced with the Goblin community. Lord Montaigne mostly sided with the Goblin King on these matters.

"Under Minister Scrimgoeur, there was extended discussion about the bank's branches in the Muggle world and transfer of funds between these banks and other banks in Britain and the Continent. Minister Scrimgouer felt that these interbank dealings tended to result in Gringotts' tax liability being understated. He also felt that there were business and profit opportunities in dealing with the French and German Wizarding communities. At the last meeting before his death, Minister Scrimgouer raised the issue of the bank's failure to assist the Wizarding trading families, such as the Blacks and Parkinsons, and the highly negative impact that this had on their businesses. The Goblins agreed that they could get back into the commercial lending business and use their bank branches in the Muggle world to provide the necessary documentation for Wizard trading families. Minister Scrimgouer noted that it was a little late for this to be any help to the Blacks or Parkinsons. Lord Montaigne stated a reluctance to enter that line of business.

"Minister Thicknesse only attended two meetings. The first was largely consumed by charges that his government was not legitimate and counter-threats to seize the bank if the Goblins did not take a more reasonable attitude. The meeting ended with an agreement that all parties would recognize the legitimacy of the Thicknesse government and the sovereignty of Gringotts' main bank site. The existing terms of the charter were again extended for a year, which means they expire this September on the date of the autumn equinox. At Thicknesse's last meeting, there was agreement to maintain the present tax rates. The Goblin King agreed that the bank would once again make loans. Thicknesse asked if any loans had been made in the past year and the Goblin King said no, but the mechanisms to do this were being established. The rest of the meeting was devoted to Thicknesse's demand to seize the vaults of known members of the Order of the Phoenix and of Harry Potter. The Goblin King said this was a tricky legal issue, since the charter only allowed for seizure in the case of treason against an elected Minister. Thicknesse vigorously objected and the Goblin King agreed to consider the matter and to begin an inventory of any vaults that Thicknesse intended to demonstrate were owned by traitors. Thicknesse ended the meeting by stating that the bank would lose its charter if this matter was not resolved by the September meeting.

"There is a memorandum of one formal meeting with Minister Shacklebolt. The Minister accepted the extension of the charter into September, agreed on the existing tax rates, quashed the request to seize vaults of Order members and made a request to seize the vaults of Death Eaters. The Goblin King accepted the seizure of the vaults belonging to deceased Death Eaters, but said that seizure of the vaults owned by Thicknesse, Barty Crouch, Jr., the Malfoys, and other live Death Eaters 'would be considered and discussed in September'. The Goblin King stressed the urgency of renewing the charter by the September meeting, to eliminate uncertainty. Minister Shacklebolt asked if any loans had been made yet and the Goblin King responded 'I anticipate that happening very, very soon'."

"That's most enlightening," Dad complimented Percy. "It indicates one clear line of attack that the King will take with Harry. I think your best approach, Harry, is to simply tell the King that you will relay to me any concerns that he raises on these matters. You can tell him that I am willing to meet with him and discuss this prior to September. I have had two meetings with him. He visited me after Minister Shacklebolt was attacked to express his condolences. He visited again the day after the election to congratulate me on the victory. At that time he indicated that he was willing to agree to an immediate seizure of the remaining Death Eater vaults if I was willing to bless a hundred year extension of the charter, under its existing terms, and present it to the Wizengamot for approval. I told him that I would strongly consider this, but felt the charter needed to be modernized. I forgot to push the lending issue."

"It is enlightening," Harry agreed. "It seems that Gringotts is very determined not to facilitate the establishment of Wizard commercial enterprises by making loans. I believe we will have to remove the exclusivity in their charter or they will continue to use the bank to prevent Wizard society from progressing. By the way, have you been notified by the bank that you now have a seat on its Board? Professor McGonagall has not received any notification."

"No, I haven't," Dad replied. "I'll send Prudence to fetch Shacklebolt to see if he was offered a seat on the Board."

"Percy," Harry asked, "I don't suppose the Ministry keeps minutes of the Gringotts' Board of Directors meetings going back to the early days of the bank? It would be interesting to check on any discussions the Board had on the issue of making loans and find out what reason if any they gave for stopping the practice of making loans. You'd have to go back to about 1710, when the loans stopped."

"As a matter of fact, the Ministry keeps all of the records of that sort, going back to the dawn of the Ministry. Finding them is another question. I've gone back through the minutes as far as 1905. I've tasked Ellie from the museum staff in the Finance Department to locate the minutes from Gringotts' first fifty years. I don't know if we'll have them prior to your meeting with the Goblin King. I can tell you this much: during the past hundred plus years, the question of loans has come up about a dozen times. Each time, the Ministry and Hogwarts representatives supported the issuance of loans, while the Goblins and the Montaigne familily representative were opposed to making loans. There was seldom a reason given, but in the few times that a reason was given for rejection it was either the Goblin King saying 'there is too great an element of risk', 'haven't we discussed this enough times in the past', and 'we have no experience with that sort of thing', while the Montaigne representative said 'don't want to put the annual dividend in jeopardy' and 'it would only lead Wizards to desert the traditional ways'. That last remark was made by the current Lord Montaigne twenty-seven years ago."

"Wow, Cissy," Ron exclaimed "it seems your family has made a habit of siding with the Goblins against their fellow Wizards."

"I don't believe that could be the case," Cissy rejected that idea. "My father is a traditionalist, who wants to protect the Wizard life style and avoid activities that would cause overly much scrutiny from the Muggles. He has always stressed to me the importance of remaining hidden."

"Which is why he allowed Bruce to gallivant all over the Continent doing business with, partying with, and preying upon the Muggles, to the extent that he was frequently in the Muggle press and barely escaped arrest," Ron shot back.

"I admit Bruce is a big blind spot for my father. I think father also believed that our family was positioned to be the Wizard interface with Muggle society, and that Bruce had enough background documentation as the son of a British Lord to not spark suspicion. His lack of a documented formal British education was the big gap in his resume and he tried to fill it by attending University in France. Home schooling is very strange for a future British Lord, but that was the story. My father went to Eton and Oxford, as well as Hogwarts. Well, he had the equivalent of about two years at Hogwarts."

"What I learned of Muggle history convinced me that the landed aristocratic families always did whatever they could to prevent the emergence of wealthy merchants or a middle class, in general," Hermione lectured. "The aristocrats feared that change and the emergence of other centers of wealth and power would diminish their own position. Remember what Professor McGonagall said about the animosity between the country Great Families and the city Great Families."

"Well, as much fun as this little argument has been", Harry said, "I think we should be off to the museum. We'll be back here at 11:30, which gives plenty of time before our 1:00 P.M. lunch at the bank."

We spent two hours looking at prints and drawings by Degas, Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, and Van Gogh so that Harry could 'just get a little bit of a feel for impressionist art'. It was interesting, but not the way I would have chosen to spend our precious time prior to meeting the Goblin King.

Our return to Harry's office found Dad, Percy, and Shacklebolt poring over old Gringotts' Board minutes. Dad looked up as we entered "Percy was able to locate the minutes from 1700 through 1730 and they are most revealing. The last loans made were in 1711 and 1712 to the merchant-trader families of Black and Parkinson. Those families had been borrowing from Gringotts since 1695 and had always repaid their debts on time, with interest. They even paid some special, and likely illegal, 'security fees' to the bank.

"The change came at the September 1712 meeting, when the Blacks requested a larger loan, offering a ship and the contents of their London warehouse as surety for the loan. On the motion of the then Lord Montaigne, the loan was rejected. The reasons given were 'the high risk of backing merchant shipping', 'the undue visibility of magical creatures in the Muggle world', and 'further threat to the Wizard way of life'. Requests were made by both the Blacks and the Parkinsons for at least the next eighteen years. The requests were always rejected by a vote of 3 – 2, with Lord Montaigne and the Goblins voting as a bloc. In 1730, a resolution offered by the Goblin King that 'Gringotts Bank is no longer interested in making loans of any sort' passed on the same 3 – 2 vote. Of additional interest, a fairly sizable loan was issued to a Goblin in 1710, for the purpose of establishing a foundry. That loan was approved 3 – 2, with both Goblin representatives voting no. At the September 1711 meeting, on the motion of the Goblin King, the board voted 3 – 2 that 'Gringotts Bank will hereafter make no loan to any Goblin other than the Goblin King or permit any Goblin to rent a vault without prior approval by the Goblin King'. I guess I don't need to tell you who provided the third vote for that motion".

"I guess my family has looked out for its own interests over the years," Cissy conceded.

"Who are you going to take with you to Gringotts?" Dad asked Harry.

"I thought it best to go low-key and take it as assumed that I'm going in response to the request to Hermione that the negotiations on the vault heist be handled face-to-face at this stage. I thought I'd take just Hermione, Ron, and Ginny to make it clear that I am not attending the meeting as the Deputy Minister or the trainee Keeper. They were each specifically included in the invitation and there was no suggestion that I bring anybody else."

"There is merit in that," Dad replied. "That allows you to say you aren't prepared to discuss the other matters, but that you'll be happy to note what the King wishes to discuss and return at another date with your appropriate advisors."

"That's what I'll do then," Harry concluded. "I realize I don't know the King's name, or his age, or how long he has been King. Or something as basic as what is the normal life expectancy of a Goblin King?"

"His name is Nika Goblanze, and I think it might be best if you referred to him as 'chairman', rather than 'King'. I'm embarrassed to say that I can't answer your other questions. Perhaps Viktor or Percy can answer you."

"Goblanze has been chairman, which I guess is his same tenure as the King, for forty-five years," Percy quickly answered. "He is now eighty-seven years old. An average life expectancy for a Goblin is about one hundred and ten years, although a King typically lives ten or twenty years longer than that. Goblanze will be King and chairman until he either dies or is incapacitated. The prior chairman spent almost ninety years in office. The chairman is well equipped to play the long game in his dealings with us. He knows we may only be in office for six years. The point in our favor is that he knows we can partially dissolve the charter in September."

"That's very impressive, Percy," Dad said, perhaps condescending as he continued, "I hadn't appreciated how well versed you are in so many important manners."

"Let's quickly talk about what it is safe for me to definitely offer the Chairman," Harry shifted the topic. "I had planned to promise to procure an infant dragon for him. I think Charlie can help with that. I planned to offer back the Gryffindor sword, with the proviso that it would have to be borrowed from time to time as dire need arises. I planned to offer about 5 – 10,000 gold galleons as a monetary settlement. And I planned to apologize."

"The dragon is fine," Dad responded. "You may offer a qualified apology, in the form of you realize that your action was technically improper and illegal, but you acted out of necessity and cut through red tape, knowing that the Chairman would have granted you access to the vault in furtherance of the fight against our common enemy, but that there just wasn't the time for that. I'm not happy about the offer of the sword or the money. You have the letters from Narcissa and Hermione, who are the rightful owners of the vault. Unless Percy or Viktor see grounds for objection, I think you could offer 5000 galleons to purchase the sword on behalf of Hogwarts, for a term equal to the longer of the life of yourself, the life of your children, or the life of the school. I don't think it would hurt to casually remind him that his support of the Death Eaters, including recognition of Thicknesse as a Board Member, could be deemed a violation of the bank's charter."

Viktor and Percy said that approach seemed fine to them. Cissy added "it's important not to show weakness or be overly deferential to the Goblin King. You represent the Wizard world, not just Harry Potter."

"Thanks, I'll remember that," Harry replied. "And now, it's almost time to depart for the bank. I have one last question. What sort of food am I likely to be served?"

"Goblins don't eat meat," Viktor observed. "Unless of course they are very ill and need the specific nutrients in the meat. In that case, they always eat it raw, because cooking would diminish the nutritional value, and they want to heal themselves with the minimum consumption of animal flesh. They eat vegetables, especially root vegetables, fruit, nuts, yoghurt, cheese, plus a little fish and shellfish. You will be able to assess the meeting by the food you are served. If it is not considered to be a very important meeting, such as if it is just presented as dealing with your break-in of the vault, then you'll only be served vegetables and perhaps some apples. If you are offered cheese and a larger selection of fruits and vegetables, then it is an important meeting. If fish or shellfish are included, it is the equivalent of a state dinner. Whatever they prepare, they use a lot of mushrooms, herbs, and garlic. The use of truffles and spices is also something of an honor. Cinnamon is especially limited to important dinners and holiday banquets."

Dad met privately with Harry for a few minutes, before we left for Gringotts. I was curious, but didn't have a chance to ask Harry and didn't want to do an obvious touch, with so many watching eyes.

Following Dad's suggestion, we changed into our Ministry-formal robes for the lunch and apparated to a spot eight feet above the entrance to Ollivander's shop. We floated gracefully down to the ground in our formal attire, drawing stares and some cheers from the shoppers. Harry waved back at the gawkers as we strolled casually to the entrance of Gringotts bank. A formally-attired Goblin met us at the entrance, telling us that his chairman was expecting us. He led us to an elevator, which carried us to the fourth, which was the top, floor.

We exited the elevator into a fairly small reception area. The long wall facing us was almost all windows, with old dark crimson velvet draperies and bench seats for visitors. The long wall, which contained the two elevators, was filled by an elaborate marble reception desk. The walls and floor were of polished pink granite. Each of the two short walls was made up entirely of floor-to-ceiling embossed and polished brass doors. Our guide led us to the doors on our left. They opened easily to his pull. This whole side of the floor was devoted to a smallish reception area, with a Wizard receptionist seated behind a dark wooden desk, a large conference room ahead of us, and a seemingly large office with a closed door on our left. Our guide asked the receptionist if the chairman was ready to see us. The receptionist replied "it will be just a few minutes", and motioned us to a leather sofa and two leather seats to our right. Our guide departed.

I took the opportunity to lay my hand on the back of Harry's right hand, where it rested between us. {[amused, in good spirits] You're becoming a bit more patient. I expected you to try that before. Your Dad wanted to tell me that it might not be wise to include Cissy in the sort of meeting which we just left. He doesn't trust her as we do, but he also thought it impolite to discuss her father's Gringotts chicanery in her presence. He says no harm was done. Everything we said was a message that he won't mind at all being passed back to Lord Montaigne. He mostly was worried how far Ron might go in needling her. There you have it.}


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter Thirty-Seven - Lunch With the Goblin King**

As we sat, I remarked to Harry on the thickness and richness of the crimson wool carpet. We sat for quite a bit more than a few minutes until the office door opened and the Chairman came out to greet us. He was quite a bit bigger than most Goblins I had seen at Gringotts, perhaps just an inch short of five feet tall.

"Welcome. I am pleased that you are joining me for lunch. I've wanted to meet you for some time, Harry Potter. Please introduce me to your associates." Harry shook hands with the Chairman and introduced each of us to him. When he came to me, he responded, "ah, the youngest child of the Minister". Ron got a similar comment and to Hermione he said "I've heard of you. You've been negotiating with my supervisor at Hogwarts." He beckoned us into the conference room, which was set up as an elaborate dining room, with silver bowls and plates, crystal glasses, and silver cutlery all on a lace tablecloth, above the dark, not marble, perhaps obsidian, table. The walls were white marble, the floor was the crimson carpet, and there was a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It was lit with gas lights, inside crystal shields. We sat as indicated, with Harry at the Chairman's right hand and Hermione at his left. A shorter Goblin entered the room, was introduced by the Chairman as his Deputy Chairman, Kelu Goblansk, and seated himself at the end of the table, opposite the Chairman. He looked a lot younger than the chairman.

We were served by two Wizard waiters attired in Muggle formal wear. Lunch began with a dark wine of which the chairman said "a very fine port, I think you'll agree. Many, including myself, believe port to be the most magical of all wines," The port was accompanied by thin pieces of warm fried bread, and a soft white cheese. The Chairman addressed his comments to Harry. "I understand that you will be returning to Hogwarts in the fall, in addition to your duties at the Ministry. That must keep you very busy and not leave you much time for your lovely girlfriend."

"Yes, it's busy on all fronts, but I have so much that I want to learn, both at Hogwarts and at the Ministry. I feel a need to move beyond my year as a semi-rogue soldier, so to speak. Since Ginny will also be a Hogwarts seventh year, as well as a valued advisor, we actually spend quite a lot of time together."

"Yes, it was your roguish ways that brought you and your friends to my attention. Yours was the first successful robbery of a Gringotts vault in generations. Those who attempt such a thing usually do not survive. As I understand it, the three of you actually rode our guard dragon out of the tunnels and out of London."

"That's correct," Harry replied evenly. "I certainly want to apologize for the consternation that we caused. I would have simply come to you and asked permission to retrieve the horcrux from the vault, but with Voldemort about to attack Hogwarts and crush all remaining resistance, I'm sure you realize that we were confronted with exigent circumstances and acted in the best interests of Goblins, as well as Wizards."

"Yes, that's certainly one way of interpreting those unusual events. I agree that we are all better served to have Voldemort out of the way. I thank you for your apology. I'm sure you realize that this sort of affair is a source of embarrassment and some loss of faith and prestige for both the bank and me."

"I was afraid of that," Harry responded, "which is why we have not said anything of that particular adventure. The Minister asked me to assure you that our government in no way holds the bank responsible for that theft and recognizes that your security is excellent. The Minister will certainly not speak of the matter. Nor will the owners of the vault. One of the owners knew that the vault contained an illegal article in furtherance of her and Voldemort's treason against the elected Minister. The other owner at the time has asked me to give you this note, saying she holds the bank harmless and bears no grudge against either me or the bank." Harry handed the note to the Chairman. "As it happens," Harry continued, "we've determined that Hermione here was the rightful owner of that vault, all along. Here is a certificate from the Restitution Commission, attesting to the fact that she is a rightful Black heiress and the owner of the vault's contents." Harry passed along that certificate to the chairman.

"I see," the chairman responded, "and I'm sure that Hermione also has no objections regarding the vault robbery and will hold the bank harmless."

"Of course," Hermione replied. "As you are aware, I was one of the robbers."

"I thought as much, but it was impossible to tell for certain, since you all used Polyjuice to trick my staff. I assume Ron was the third bandit." Ron nodded that this was correct. "I really wish you had come to me and simply requested that the bank turn over the horcrux. You all could have been killed by the dragon. Wizards riding a dragon is a very rare and dangerous feat. Far more die than succeed, especially in such a confined space as our tunnel system."

"You're right, it was a very stupid thing to have done, born of necessity and with little chance of success. Since the alternative was Voldemort's supremacy over all magical creatures, and the likely destruction of all those creatures in a war with the Muggles, we each felt we had no choice but to risk our lives. I knew that red tape, and the probable need for someone at the bank to give the Thicknesse government a chance to challenge our request, would delay recovery of the horcrux until after Voldemort's ultimate victory. We all realized what a horribly difficult position the bank was placed in by the presence of an illegal Wizard government that had murdered our elected Minister and seized the Ministry by force. In a way, our action saved the bank from having to make a painful choice against Voldemort's Minister and expose the bank to his wrath had we failed to defeat him."

"Yes, that would have been a very difficult position for me. I was even forced to accept Thicknesse onto the bank's Board of Directors. If I hadn't done so, they would have simply seized the bank."

"It was a very difficult situation all around," Harry agreed.

At this point, the second course of candied walnuts and more port was served by our waiters. Viktor had not indicated how we should interpret the presence of nuts.

"Miss Granger has made reference to possible restitution for the theft, in addition to the apology which you have just been kind enough to give to me. As you know, we lost a very valuable guard dragon during the course of your adventure, as well as damage to some of the furnishings in our lobby and our front door."

"Yes, I'm very sorry for the damage and the loss of your dragon. Ginny has a brother who works with dragons. We are certainly willing to have him procure a very fine adolescent dragon to replace the one that we lost for you. I had hoped at the time that after the dragon ditched us and had a good drink and feeding, that it would return home to you. I realize that it never did return."

"Yes, I don't think he enjoyed it so much down in the tunnels. But, that was his job. Goblins also prefer not to live in tunnels. I'll accept the dragon with gratitude, on behalf of the bank. Miss Granger also mentioned other restitution in the form of the Sword of Gryffindor and a monetary payment."

"The Sword of Gryffindor is problematic, since it will always return to a Gryffindor in peril, if that Gryffindor possesses the Sorting Hat. That's how it departed your custody the last time. Of course, the offer of monetary compensation was made at a time when we didn't realize that the vault in question, and the relic within it, actually belonged to Hermione, or that Narcissa had no objection to our entering the vault."

"Are you reneging on the offer that Miss Granger made?" the Chairman asked, with some irritation. "The entrance to my bank was still damaged, whether or not the vault owner objected to your theft."

"I wouldn't do that." Harry replied, "as it would be dishonorable and a sign of bad faith. I was merely laying the groundwork for the parameters under discussion. As you know, Hermione and your Supervisor at Hogwarts did not agree a specific sum of money or the details surrounding the sword."

"That is correct. What specifically do you suggest?"

"I propose to give you 1,000 gold galleons in payment for the repairs to your lobby and to buy a right to the sword for the lifetime of myself, and my children, and the school of Hogwarts".

"I accept the payment for the damages. How much do you propose to pay for the rental of the sword?"

"Four thousand gold galleons".

"That is a fair price. Alright, Harry Potter. I'm also taking into account that you rescued a Goblin from Voldemort's custody, when I say that the debt that you and your friends owe to me and the bank on account of your robbery is forgiven. My Deputy will give you a note to that effect. Did you bring the money with you?"

"In a manner of speaking. It's in my vault here at the bank."

"That's fine. I'll personally assist you in retrieving it, after we finish our meal. I assume that the Goblin whom you rescued helped you in your adventure here."

"I would never speak unfavorably of a brave Goblin who stood up to Voldemort's torture and always had the best interests of his bank and his King at heart," Harry replied.

"Your loyalty is highly commendable. You'll be pleased to learn that the employee in question was given back his job and was not disciplined. I agree that he behaved quite well under trying circumstances, not that I'll forgive him a second time if he ever chooses to again exercise that level of initiative.

"To change the subject, tell me, what are your views on the trial of young Bruce?"

The next course was a thick squash soup in a vegetable broth base. I would not normally have viewed the pungent spices as such an honor, but felt thrilled to detect the taste of cinnamon, amidst the hotter spices.

"As you know, the trial was recessed, so that Bruce can receive a proper medical evaluation and so that the extradition requests can be considered. I attended the trial as a member of the audience, not having been called to testify as a witness. As Deputy Minister, I'm not allowed to have a public opinion on Bruce's innocence, mental competence, or guilt, or the appropriate sentence if he is guilty. I can tell you that the initial half-day of trial was more boisterous than I expected, and that I was taken quite off guard by the statement that Bruce made."

"Indeed, it seems the boy is clearly quite mad!"

"Well, you should know," Harry replied, picking his words carefully, "that under Wizard law, being adjudged sufficiently mentally competent to be fully responsible for your crimes is far from the same thing as being totally free of mental problems, or even of not being in need of some medical correction for those problems. It is a complicated medical and legal issue, which I am not knowledgeable enough to give you an intelligent opinion about. Even if I had that knowledge, my position would prevent me from telling anyone my opinion before the legal proceedings were concluded."

"Yes, I know you are hobbled by the law. Still, I'm just hoping on behalf of my old friend, Lord Montaigne, that he'll get a resolution to his liking."

"Yes, Chairman Goblanze, I've met Lord Montaigne and know how worried he is about his son. I've become friendly with Bruce's sister Cissy, as well, over these past few days. I sincerely wish that Lord Montaigne ends up with a verdict that he can live with, but that will in part be based upon his tempering his expectations. Bruce has been partially responsible for the deaths of dozens of students, and has shown no remorse for that."

"I quite agree, Harry, Bruce is a very bad person, although I think more mad than evil. He doesn't show remorse because he truly can't comprehend his actions. He is the strange man who could not bear to kill another soul, but can remorselessly purchase a hundred deaths. Not unlike a King, which is how Bruce views himself. I won't feel bad if he's locked away. I know he had planned to come after me, once he had conquered the continent. A King does dislike being called an inferior being in open court. "

The main course was a spicy crab cake with garlicky mashed potatoes with cheese, a mashed mix of carrot and turnip, and roasted Brussels sprouts. The sprouts had a pronounced garlic flavor and were pleasantly salty, with that rich, sweet taste that comes with proper roasting. The crab was delightfully spiced, hot and tangy, but not unbearably so.

"To change topics again, I appear to have lost one of my valued employees at about the time young Bruce was captured. A young woman by the name of Cho Chang, whom I believe was a school chum of yours."

"Yes, Cho and I fought Voldemort together. She was actually my girlfriend for about two weeks. She's now Viktor Krum's girlfriend and is going to visit him in Durmstrang."

"Yes, I remember Viktor quite fondly. A lot like yourself, the brave jock who appears stupid at first glance, but turns out to be very wise and scholarly. Viktor visited me here, shortly after he became headmaster of Durmstrang. I like to be on a person-to-person basis with the leaders of all the Wizarding communities. I entertained Viktor in this dining room and in my office."

"He mentioned that he enjoyed the meeting, Chairman. He said he was very impressed by your drawings. He specifically asked me to try to arrange a meeting so that he can see you, before he returns to Durmstrang tomorrow night."

"I knew he was a man of great taste. I'll show you the drawings after we finish our lunch. I'd hate to think that one of my employees betrayed the confidence of one of our customers. I hope Miss Chang didn't commit any fouls in her dealings with Bruce. I understand that Bruce used Polyjuice to perpetrate his theft of his father's funds."

"Yes, I was present when Bruce was questioned under Veritaserum. He admitted to impersonating his father to withdraw the funds. As for Cho, I certainly wouldn't mention anything that would impugn a loyal employee and brave soul, such as her. I know she took her work here quite seriously and hopes to return, if things don't work out for her at Durmstrang."

"I see, so her absence might be permanent, due to affairs of the heart. You may tell Viktor that I would be very pleased if he would join me here for lunch at noon tomorrow. I haven't seen Viktor since he assumed the title of German Minister of Magic."

"I think Cho's absence may well be permanent, Sir. She suggested that she might be in Germany for quite some time. By the way, this crab cake is truly excellent."

"It certainly is," I chipped in. "Do I detect a little cardamom among the seasonings?"

"I believe you are correct, Miss Weasley, you have a most discerning palate. I hate to keep changing the topic on Harry, but feel I must touch on the renewal of the bank's charter."

"I'm aware, of course, that the charter is up for renewal in September," Harry replied. "As Deputy Minister, I have very little say in the matter. I would have brought my other aide, Percy, if I had realized that you wished to discuss the charter. I'm afraid I'm not as up on the details as I ought to be. I'll be happy, however, to relay your thoughts to the Minister. He said I should tell you, in the unlikely event that the matter came up over lunch, that he would be pleased to meet with you at any time to discuss it further. He was a little surprised that he hasn't heard anything about his seat on your Board."

"Yes, I need to contact Minister Weasley and headmaster McGonagall about joining our Board. They'll need some time to get themselves up to speed, before the September meeting. As far as the charter goes, there are some concerns of mine that you could relay to Arthur. It's very important that there not be a lapse in the charter. That could destroy confidence in the bank among our valued clients. It would be best if the renewal were for a prolonged period, such as a hundred years. That would facilitate our strategic planning and allow operations to continue smoothly. Although I'd prefer to see an increased share of the taxes flowing into the Goblin community, I can live with the present arrangements in the charter. Do you know if your government has any serious concerns about the charter renewal?"

"As I said, Chairman, I'm not nearly as well versed on the details of the bank's charter and operations as I intend to become over the next several weeks. I can tell you that there is great concern that the bank hasn't been doing any lending to existing and new Wizard businesses. This has greatly impeded the advancement of Wizard society."

"I know that is a concern, and I have been working on it. You should know that Lord Montaigne shares my concern that too much borrowing and increased commercial activity could lead to instability within the Wizard community. You and the Minister should carefully consider the social disruption that lending by this bank might cause. I'd hate to be responsible for the destruction of treasured Wizard social traditions."

"The transition will certainly take careful management by the Ministry," Harry conceded.

"And by this bank. Lending entails greater risk than our present activities, and we haven't had any experience with that line of business in three centuries. We'd have to retrain a large number of our staff."

"I understand," Harry replied, "but that doesn't do away with the urgency of beginning a loan program. Young Wizards are hungry for good jobs and economic opportunity. I'm sure many would be happy to be trained by your bank for the new jobs that lending will create within the bank."

"I'm sure there would be many applicants and I appreciate the enthusiasm of the young Hogwarts graduates. Unfortunately, your Hogwarts education is not very practical compared to the needs of the bank. Perhaps when I meet with Professor McGonagall I should discuss the sort of training that would prepare her graduates for employment in the business world. I learned from Viktor that far more German Wizards are employed in commerce than here in Britain. Many actually work for Muggles."

"That's true. Viktor and Monsieur Delacour recently told me the same thing. I think the Durmstrang curriculum is a bit more practical than what we learn at Hogwarts."

"Quite true. Do you know how many languages I speak, Harry? How many can you speak?"

"I used to be able to speak Parseltongue, in addition to English, but now it's just English. I'd guess, since you've raised the issue, that in addition to speaking Goblinspeak and English, you can also speak French and German."

"And the native tongue of the Elves, Centaurs, and Unicorns, as well as a smattering of Spanish and Italian. I don't say this to show off, but rather to give you an idea of what is required in the business world. Certainly, not all of my professional employees speak that many languages, but they certainly speak at least three. A shame about losing the Parseltongue, we could have opened up a new business line with the snakes. Don't look so surprised, that was just a little Goblin humor.

"I sense that you correctly interpret Lord Montaigne's reluctance to expand Wizard commerce as a self-serving defense of his own family's status. I agree that social stasis serves the financial and power interests of the Montaignes, but there is more to Nigel's objections than that. More commerce would mean increased contact with the Muggles and an extreme increase in the danger of giving the whole show away. Wizards such as the Montaignes, Malfoys, and some of the male Blacks and Parkinsons learned from an early age the skills necessary to mix with and work among the Muggles. On the other hand, your average Wizard is a farmer who doesn't know what electricity is. The Muggles would spot him out in an instant if he showed himself too much in their society. They can accept the notion of a half crazy, ignorant dirt farmer for whom electricity, the telephone, computer, and compound interest are foreign subjects. They can't accept a business associate or supplier with the same deficiencies. I fully agree that Wizards need to modernize, but you have to take the time to bring your people up to speed gradually. A realistic approach is to start with the students entering Hogwarts. Their parents are likely a lost cause. You also have to watch that mixing with the Muggles doesn't cause a lot of intermarriage and further depletion of your numbers. I realize that I'm an exception as a King, but I have twenty-eight children from seven wives. Unlike the famous Muggle King, all of my wives are still very much alive and quite happy.

"My point is that those who are my near-peers among the Wizarding elite have how many children? The Malfoys have one, the Montaignes two of which one is mad, Dumbledore had none, McGonagall has none, Voldemort had none, Snape had none, the Black boys had none, Bellatrix had none, Barty Crouch, Sr. had one, Fudge had two, Scrimgouer one, Shacklebolt none at present. The Master bless Arthur Weasley and his seven little Weasleys. Unfortunately he is the exception. If you Wizards mixed too much with the Muggles, you might completely eliminate yourselves, even if the Muggles didn't discover your secret and destroy you. And if they destroyed you, they'd destroy us as well. We don't even look like them. So, in conclusion, change at a moderate pace is good and I encourage Lord Montaigne to accept it. Rapid change could be deadly to all of us".

Dessert was served as the Chairman was speaking. It was a nicely poached pear, spiced with ginger and, I was happy to note, quite a bit of cinnamon. It was served with a rich vanilla custard. Harry had finished much of his pear while the Chairman spoke, and then kindly took the floor, giving the Chairman the opportunity to enjoy his dessert."

"I'm glad you support a measure of change and Wizard advancement," Harry replied. "Believe me, I fully understand your fears about unguided rapid change. Wizards have been static for generations and change will be a jolt to the system. I'll certainly relay your concerns to the Minister and discuss with all of my aides the specific issues that you have raised. I'm encouraged that you've raised the need for change with Lord Montaigne. I believe we can find a way to both promote economic growth in Wizard society and avoid social upheaval or detection by the Muggles. I would pass on one warning to you, if I may be so bold. The lack of modernity in the Wizarding world, and Wizards trying to conduct business in the Muggle world without the proper credentials or bonding, has greatly increased the risk of detection.

"As Muggle society has changed and Wizard society has not, we tend to stand out a lot more than we did even a couple generations ago. Lord Montaigne should realize this: his castle could easily be mistaken for a Muggle home. His life is very much removed from the traditional Wizard ways of his father or grandfather. If it weren't so, he would have long since been found out."

"Your points are also perfectly valid, Harry. We must search for the golden mean, as we move forward. Might I suggest that we take our sherry and adjourn to my office?"

I noticed that sherry had, indeed, arrived. We picked up our glasses and followed the Chairman and his Deputy into the Chairman's office. It was very opulent, but in an unexpected way. There was no wood at all. This shocked my mind into asking itself whether I had noticed any wood at all on this entire floor. The desk was a single block of granite, resting on alabaster pillars and with a flat, clear crystal top surface. The walls were polished pieces of marble and turquoise, in various artistic colors, separated by strips of what looked like silver or platinum. The ceiling was a transparent dome, now partially obscured by a green sunshield. The floor was rough marble and all the chairs and sofas were covered in leather, with no wood visible. There were a number of side tables scattered amongst the chairs and sofas. They had translucent, nearly flat, crystal top surfaces and were supported by an elaborate lacework of copper, silver, and gold rods and wires. The Chairman led Harry around the walls, to show off his drawings, after having motioned the rest of us into seats.

"I can see why Viktor was impressed by your drawings," Harry was saying. "The style and color remind me a lot of Toulouse-Lautrec, or at least of his better work."

"Why thank you," the Chairman replied. "I've always admired Toulouse-Lautrec, so any comparison to him is high praise indeed. His better work, you say? Let me show you this drawing on the next wall, it is one of the two that I entered into the talent competition in the tournament from which I was selected as the new King. I'll bet you'd be thrilled if you got such a prize for winning the Triwizard Tournament, eh?"

"No, I viewed that win as tainted. Voldemort actually helped me to win so that I would seize the cup and wind up where he wanted to kill me. Cho's boyfriend Cedric was close enough at the end and we had traded favors, so I thought it noble to let the contest end as a tie, but that led to Cedric's death. I didn't keep the award from the Tournament and I don't think winning is something I'm remembered for, at least favorably.

"Looking at the drawing you entered it looks like it has a particularly magical world quality to it, which is very appealing. It has the same emotional flavor to me as Gauguin's 'Creation of the Universe', which I also like very much. When I first saw his drawing I thought the work, for a Muggle, held a particularly Wizard quality to it. Not that I've ever seen any Wizard-made drawing or paintings, apart from faithful renderings of Hogwarts buildings and headmasters, but rather that it represents the world as a Wizard would envision it."

"I see you have some knowledge of art."

"I spent the first part of my life living with my Muggle aunt and her family. It wasn't a great life, but it did expose me to Muggle culture and get me to the British Museum. There were art books in the library of the Muggle school that I attended. Ah, I see you've used Muggle nude models, and captured their form in a very interesting way."

"I'm curious that you identified them as Muggle models, rather than Witches. What gave it away?"

"I don't know for sure, Chairman, I think Witches carry themselves a little differently than Muggle women. The neutral condition facial expressions are also different."

"You have a very good eye. I might make an artist of you. I understand that you are about to begin your training as a Keeper. I will, of course, assist in any way that I can. You'll want to spend some time among the Unicorns, Centaurs, and Elves. I understand that there is a Centaur on the Hogwarts faculty."

"Yes, Chairman, Professor Firenze teaches divination. I've met him several times and get along well with him. I also have a reasonably good relationship with the old Black house Elf Kreacher, and the former Malfoy Elf Dobby was an especially close friend. I made him a free Elf and he saved all of our lives."

"That's a good start. You may not believe it, but I've entertained the Centaur Bane in this very office."

"I've met Bane several times. We didn't get on well at first, but in the Battle of Hogwarts he saved my life."

"Well, if you've passed the Bane test, then you're really off to a fine start. He doesn't like many Wizards, or Goblins, or even Centaurs, for that matter. If I were you, I'd study divination with Professor Firenze. He's a whiz at astronomical divination. I understand there are three new prophecies involving you. Firenze can help you with that. I'm not sure there has ever been any being that was the subject of so much prophesying as Harry Potter. That is the major reason that I wanted to see you for myself. Your friends also figure in the prophecies, so it is good to meet them, as well. Please have a seat, Harry. I have one last question to ask you. One that is of some extreme importance to me. Should you become Keeper, what is your view on establishment of an above ground sanctuary for the Goblin people?"

"I can honestly say, Chairman, that I know far less about the duties of Keeper than I do about being Deputy Minister. I can only say, in totally nonbinding fashion and based on no information beyond my gut instincts about fairness, that I would be inclined to look favorably upon that. I really can't form any concrete opinion until I learn a lot more fact and history from Lord Montaigne and from our own research in the historical archives. I would be interested in hearing your views on Goblin-Wizard history and Goblin history, in general, at some future meeting."

"That's a perfectly satisfactory answer for now. And yes, we will have future meetings, and I would be very pleased to share what I know of the Goblin views about our shared history. Now, shall we head down to your vault and get my money?"

It is truly amazing the speed and quality of service one receives at Gringotts when the Goblin King is your escort. Harry, Ron, Hermione, the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman and I traveled to Harry's vault in what Hermione said was very much a luxury version of the conveyance she had previously traveled in. Our conveyance was waiting upon our arrival, the trip was smooth, and two Goblins were waiting for us at the entrance to Harry's vault. They opened it for us immediately, and Harry went about the business of separating 5000 gold galleons from the pile of his investments. The pile was greatly diminished, down to little more than a quarter of its original extent.

"I fear that I have greatly diminished your resources, Harry. There is a lesson in this for you. There is always a great price incurred when you set out to do good. When you set out in a totally self-sacrificing manner to surrender yourself to save Wizard-kind, expect the price to be very steep indeed. An expensive lesson to be sure, but worth every galleon if you take it to heart. It has been a pleasure meeting you. I knew you were an honest Wizard who could be trusted to make good on his obligations. I'll have the promised certificate ready for you by the time we reach the lobby."

The ride to the lobby was smooth, and the promised certificate of clearance of the debt was handed to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. We shook hands and said goodbye to the Chairman and turned to be on our way.

The Chairman left us with one parting shot. "I'm not blessed with the gift of formal prophesy, but I'm not bad at judging people or predicting future events. I tell you with confidence, that three of you will be future Ministers of Magic. I also warn you that you still have much to learn. Wizards have a tradition of choosing fierce warriors as their Ministers. The fiercest I've seen in some time is this one here." He was looking directly into my eyes as he said that.

Break, break, break

Harry is not exactly a skilled negotiator.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter Thirty-Eight – Additional Lessons**

We met Dad, Viktor, Cho, Shacklebolt, and Percy immediately upon our return to the Ministry.

"How was your lunch with the Chairman," Dad asked, before we had even seated ourselves.

"It was excellent," I replied. "The crab cakes were excellent and there was more cinnamon than any Goblin guest could possibly hope for or expect".

Dad gave me a look, saying, "Sometimes I seriously question your sobriety, Ginevra. How many sherries did you have?" before turning his attention to Harry.

"Two and two ports", I responded. "I'm perfectly sober and the King thinks I'm a fierce warrior."

"I don't think I made any gross blunders," Harry responded to the look. "I have a certificate cancelling our obligations for the break-in, which is in line with our agreed parameters. I believe the Chairman will take me seriously. Viktor has a lunch appointment for noon, tomorrow, and the appointments of yourself and Professor McGonagall are as good as in the mail. By the way, I noticed that one of the Chairman's drawings is extremely derivative of a Gauguin drawing. Well executed. The Chairman accepts the need for some loans and economic growth for Wizards, but gave me many cautions on the perils of too-rapid change."

Harry and all of us were minutely grilled, in turn, as Dad, Percy, Shacklebolt, and Viktor tried to dissect the meeting from every conceivable vantage point. Prudence created a 'reconstructed transcript' of the meeting with annotated interpretive notes. We all signed the finished transcript and were about to set off to Hogwarts, with Dad's verdict ringing in our ears: "It doesn't appear as though any significant harm was done." Thanks, Dad.

After turning to leave, Harry stopped and said, "Excuse me, Sir, could we discuss one more policy matter before we leave? I've been thinking about our campaign platform and it seems the moment is at hand for action to free the house Elves, as we pledged to do."

"Yes, we need to get to that, but it's difficult to push something like that through the Wizengamot right now, while they're tied up with the Bruce trial, and we're going to need their support on whatever we do with the Gringotts charter extension. I tell you what, why don't you ask Percy and Hermione to draw up a bill with particulars and we can review and finalize it and decide on the best strategy to move it forward. By the way, not to put too fine a point on things, but I believe only one of us actually owns an Elf."

"Thank you, we'll get to work on it, and I plan to free Kreacher within the week." Hermione gave Harry a big hug and a kiss and promised to labor tirelessly until the project was finished. With that, we were off, back to Hogwarts.

We had been grilled for such an extended time at the Ministry, that we had only half an hour before dinner. We just wanted to collapse for half an hour and then have a quick, light supper and an early bed. What we got was another intense grilling from Mom and Professors McGonagall, Trelawney, and Longbottom. We arrived an hour and a half late for supper, which Professor McGonagall excused on the basis that we had obviously had a very heavy lunch. Mom was not impressed when I declared that I was a fierce warrior and the Goblin King attested to that fact. McGonagall at least blessed our meeting as "apparently going very well. I couldn't have expected better or done better myself."

Cho stayed with us the next day while Viktor went off to his meeting with the Goblin King. We gave Cho a cell phone to keep in touch with us and suggested she ask Viktor to purchase a portable generator and a computer for her. She explained to us how she thought the Goblin Polyjuice detector worked. "I was instructed to surreptitiously touch the probe, which is disguised as a pen, against the skin of any Wizard I suspect of shamming. If they've ingested Polyjuice, the spot on the pen that touched their skin will turn from white to rose color. I took a handful of the pens with me when I left. Here are two for you to keep if the need arises. I found that they worked quite well. I detected three shammers, including Bruce. I gave the excuse to my supervisor that Bruce wore gloves and wouldn't let me get close enough to touch the pen to his face."

At lunch, Harry sought out and sat next to Narcissa and across from Hermione, with me on his other side. "I need your advice, Mrs. Malfoy," Harry began. "I've decided to free Kreacher, but he is a very old Elf. I know he'd rather stay with you than with me, and he'll only go crazy staying by himself at Grimmauld Place. I'm willing to give him a retirement fund, but wanted to know if you'd be willing to have him stay with your family, and whether you think Kreacher and Lucius would approve of that arrangement?"

"Won't freeing Kreacher reveal a lot of your secrets?"

"Perhaps, but most of those secrets have gotten old, and it is worth a certain amount of risk to do the right thing by Kreacher. I'm not the master he would have chosen, but he has served me very well, of late. I can't very well call for the freeing of house Elves while owning one myself. The only Elf I've freed to date was actually yours."

"Yes, and I don't believe Lucius has forgotten that, either. Perhaps I can couch this as a special favor from him to win back my support by letting me have my childhood companion, as well as settling a score with you. I'd love to have Kreacher join our family, and I think Kreacher would be very pleased. Lucius will be afraid of Kreacher learning our secrets outside the bonds of ownership, but I'll think of a way to deal with that. When do you plan to free him?"

"I was thinking of doing it this afternoon. I'm having trouble deciding what would be the most appropriate article of clothing to gift him with to accomplish the deed. I gave Dobby a sock, but that was all I had at the spur of the moment. I wondered what you and Hermione thought would be most appropriate."

"I'd be honored if you used one of my knitted Elf caps," Hermione enthused and when Harry seemed agreeable, she raced back to Gryffindor to grab one.

Hermione returned quickly and Harry asked, "Do you think I should do it at Grimmauld Place, or summon him one last time?"

"If you want him to be free, I think you should go to him," Hermione replied. We finished lunch and with a quick stop back at Gryffindor, so that Harry could grab a handful of gold galleons, the four of us and Bill set off for the pocket inside the fence and then to Grimmauld Place. Since nobody was being sheltered inside the house, we apparated onto the doorstep, without our customary stealth. As Harry was knocking on the door, the auror who was watching the house crossed the road and approached us.

"Might I ask what you Wizards are up to?" he began. "I got enough of a glimpse to know that the four of you just apparated onto the doorstep of this house that I've been assigned to watch. We believe there is a dangerous criminal hiding inside."

"That's silly," Harry replied. "I'm the owner of this house and I can assure you that nobody other than my house Elf is living here. I live at Hogwarts and rarely get home for a visit. These are my friends and they are certainly not criminals. Might I ask who suggested that you watch this house and why?"

"I'm the one asking the questions, although it's awkward with you being the Deputy Minister. My supervisor, Bron Turner, said there is a renegade auror hiding here as well as an escaped Death Eater. In fact, this looks very much like the renegade auror."

"That's preposterous. Bill has been cleared and reinstated to the auror corps and is now the head of my protective squad. In fact, your former boss was declared an outlaw and captured by the French Ministry. You're welcome to come inside and take a look around, if that will satisfy you. Why are you still watching my house? Certainly you've heard about Bron's arrest and Bill's reinstatement. That must have been big news in the Auror Corps."

"That's the assignment I was given and nobody ever changed it."

"Well, I'm changing it now. Come in with us and have a look around, but then I'm ordering you to go straight back to the Ministry and report to Kingsley Shacklebolt for a new assignment."

With that Kreacher answered the door and Harry said everything was alright and could we all come in. "We need to talk to Kreacher, but you're free to start exploring," Harry said to the auror. Ron and Bill will show you around. As the auror went off to check the house, Harry asked Kreacher to join us in the drawing room.

"You've served the whole Black family and me very faithfully and loyally," Harry began. "With your permission, I'd like to make you a free Elf, as Dobby was. Would that be acceptable to you?"

"I'm not sure master. I'm a very old Elf and free Elves can starve."

"I know you've worked a very long time. That's why I've brought some galleons as a first year payment on your retirement pension, should you wish to be free. I've also spoken to Narcissa Malfoy, and she would be very happy to have you live with her family as a free Elf. As a free Elf, she would agree to pay you a wage. That is, if that is what you want to do."

"I don't want Harry Potter to be unhappy with me. I'm happy to live with Narcissa, but Mr. Malfoy would never allow a free Elf into his home. Would you think me a bad Elf if I went to Narcissa and chose not to be free? I like Harry Potter now and don't want to be a bad Elf."

"Being free is making whatever decision you think is best for yourself. It doesn't matter if it is the same decision that I would make. If I make you a free Elf, that means you are free to reach whatever arrangement you want to, with Narcissa, or with anyone else. I'm sure you could also work at Hogwarts, if that is what you want. Or you could still be my house Elf, but a free one, and I would pay you a wage. In any case, this is the retirement pension that you have earned. If you choose freedom, take it now. If you want to remain as my house Elf, without being free, know that your pension is here, whenever you want it. I'll leave it right here on this table." Harry placed ten gold galleons in a stack on the table and waited for Kreacher's answer.

"If I choose to live with Narcissa, will Harry Potter still be my friend?"

"I'll always be your friend, Kreacher, whatever you decide to do. I'll never forget what you did at the Battle of Hogwarts or how helpful you have been this past year."

"Then I choose to be free and live with Narcissa. If I have to let Lucius own me to be able to live with Narcissa, I must do that."

"I understand," Harry replied. "In that case, I'm happy to give you this Elf cap, which was knitted by Hermione. And the gold galleons are yours. You're welcome to stay at Grimmauld Place as long as you wish, but at least for now, Narcissa is living at Hogwarts with her son. We'll be happy to travel back there with you as soon as our auror friend finishes his inspection."

Kreacher pulled the hat over his ears and we all waited for the explorers to return. When they did, we escorted the auror to the door and apparated back to Hogwarts.

"Now I must convince Professor McGonagall to free the Hogwarts Elves, or to at least improve their living conditions," Hermione told us. "Hogwarts must set as good an example as Harry has done if we are to succeed in freeing all of the Elves."

"There are also a small number of Elves at the Ministry and I'm sure Dad can't free them without the Wizengamot's approval. They're government property," Ron told Hermione.

"That's, that's just HORRIBLE!" a totally exasperated Hermione told Ron. "Your father does own Elves, at least in his official capacity. If he can't free them just yet, he must do everything in his power to improve their lives. I'm going to speak to him, RIGHT NOW." She marched off to demand an audience with Dad.

When Viktor returned to collect Cho and say goodbye to us, he had a laugh on Harry, "I confronted the Goblin King with the role of the Goblins who were contracted to us in assisting the attack on Durmstrang. I told him they were directly responsible for two fatalities and significant damage within the school, especially to our hot water supply. He said that our local Goblin leader acted without authorization in contracting to help Bruce. That was all I needed. Since we were sold out, in breach of our contract, for a bribe from Bruce, I demanded restitution. He gave me your 5000 gold galleons. So I thank you for your generous contribution to the education of German Wizards."

The next three weeks were very busy and crammed with learning. Harry spent most mornings at the Ministry, with some of the time devoted to Percy and Callista filling him in on the workings of the Ministry. About half the time, Hermione, Ron, and I accompanied him, so we learned a fair amount of what was taught to Harry. One morning, while Harry and Ron were reviewing auror reports on the search for Thicknesse, Hermione and I seized the opportunity to wander off to the commissary with Callista to discuss the projects on Wizard families and the opportunities for young Witches. I thought she would be surprised that we had raised the topic, but she said that Professor McGonagall had alerted her to our interest in the subject and she had been wondering when we would finally approach her. She admitted to being eager to welcome two additional allies into what she said was a fairly lonely struggle.

Hermione said, "It's such an obvious issue of equality and giving girls who graduate Hogwarts the chance to accomplish something meaningful on their own. Wizard society is far behind the Muggles in this regard. I'm surprised you've had a lonely struggle, I'd expect every single Witch to support you."

"That's the strange thing," Callista responded. "Married Witches lose interest in this particular battle and, since most Witches marry a few months after graduating, it doesn't leave a big pool of Witches for me to recruit. But it's a lot more than that. We've just come through the Voldemort wars. Whether you were for Voldemort, or against him, or just ducking your head down and hiding from his Death Eaters, he pretty much sucked the air out of every other issue. Even I have just shifted my focus from Voldemort back to equality for Witches. With war, there seems to be the natural reaction that what is important is fighting, and Wizards are better at fighting, so our community should be led by Wizards."

"But that's really dumb!" I replied. "I'm a better fighter than any of my brothers, and my mother is certainly a better fighter than my father, she killed Bellatrix."

"Who was another Witch, so it's not like she's earned full marks for killing Voldemort or Rowle."

"I think Molly got full marks for killing Bellatrix," Hermione disagreed. "After all, Neville got full points for killing a snake."

"I think you may have just made my point, but I've digressed. The other point I wanted to make is that it can be harder to change the minds of good people who harbor a little prejudice, which they don't even recognize as such, because it just represents the natural way that things have always been. So, for me it has to be gently, gently, continuously laying out the same subversive thought: Witches are the equals of Wizards. If you push good people like Arthur or Kingsley too hard, and logically convince them that they are prejudiced, they are just as likely to dig in their heels to protect their sense of being a good person as they are to change. I try to sneak up on people and set the stage for them to convince themselves that they believe in equality for Witches. It's working very well with Percy and Harry. The Minister is also willing to think about what I say. When I tried even the really gently, gently on Shacklebolt, he'd just roll his eyes and walk away. Admittedly I was a lower level Ministry employee then than I am now, but Shacklebolt really basically only cares strongly about fighting. But that's the Auror Corps for you."

"But there are Witches in the Auror Corps," Hermione objected.

"Yes, there are, but they have always had to do many more years than a new Wizard auror of night time guard duty, patrolling the halls of the Ministry, searching through judicial records, mixing potions, or responding to complaints of exploding Muggle toilets, before they're moved to the more serious and interesting work."

"I want to go back to something you said earlier," Hermione interrupted. "It's understandable that the young feel more passionate about change than our parents and grandparents, but surely older Witches and married Witches want to be treated as the equals of Wizards. Surely discrimination against Witches harms married Witches as well."

"They do personally suffer discrimination, but that same discrimination shields their husbands from competition from more talented Witches, so that the net effect on their family balances out. They may still not like the system, but they no longer have enough of a personal interest to expend the energy fighting it, at least they don't until they have a daughter ready to graduate from Hogwarts. I do pick up the support of some mothers and of course, most of the unmarried Witches, such as McGonagall. They are the ones who pay the steepest price because of the current system. I hope that both of you will not abandon us after you marry."

"No, no, of course not!" Hermione declared. "The situation you describe is just unspeakably sad. I will help you change things, or I shall raise my children in the Muggle world."

"So as you develop position papers for Harry, what is the first or most important change you want to make?"

Callista replied, "I want to make sure the Minister carries through on his campaign pledge to expand the vote to all Witches and Wizards, instead of just those who are taxed."

"I guess I never really understood how that worked. Don't Witches pay taxes?"

"Not unless they are paid a salary, produce goods that are sold for cash, have investment earnings, have somehow raided cash from the Muggles, or have received an inheritance. There is no tax for being a mother or taking care of the home. Even for farming families, it is to the family's benefit to pretend that one spouse (invariably the husband because it isn't questioned legally to say the Witch didn't work) was the sole producer of everything produced by that farm. That is because there is a fixed tax of one galleon for each 'worker' in addition to a larger tax based on a percentage of income. You would be surprised how many families decide it isn't worth a galleon for the wife to vote."

"Some people say I memorize too much," Hermione said, "but I am a stickler for detail and I clearly remember Shacklebolt explaining the tax system to Harry. He didn't mention any per worker tax."

"That's because it's a fairly insignificant knut here and a knut there sort of tax that doesn't net the Ministry any significant revenue, but is enough to subtly change people's behavior. The good wife and mother asks herself whether she will get little Hermione new shoes this year or pay the tax so she can vote. Invariably, little Hermione gets new shoes."

Our tea break ended with the realization that things were worse than we had imagined and our promise to Callista to do whatever we could to help.

We returned from the Ministry that day to an unexpected controversy. McGonagall was in the Entry Hall, so we said hello to her as we passed on our way to Gryffindor. Rather than simply saying hello in return, or requesting a Ministry update, as she often did, McGonagall shouted "Mr. Potter, I am very disappointed. You've had another promotion and at my expense."

I was close enough to Harry to sense his total surprise. His blank look caused McGonagall to provide further specifics of the offense. "The Minister has announced the list of new Hogwarts Governors, and you're on it. I would have expected the Minister to consult with me and ask whom I wanted to be added to the Trustees. I learned of this when Ernie stopped by to get my reaction. It was not a pleasant reaction."

"The Minister hasn't mentioned this to me, yet," Harry innocently responded. "I guess it makes sense for the Deputy Minister to be a Governor. Who else is on the list?"

"It's you, Xenophilius Lovegood, Doctor White, Gwennog Jones, Prudence, and Madam Bones, and of course, Kingsley Shacklebolt."

"I think we both should have heard the news directly from Arthur and been consulted," Harry responded "but I'm not going to apologize for the Minister. It's a good list and it balances the remaining Governors, who are weighted towards Slytherin. These all seem like reasonable people that you should work well with, not like the Governors whom Dumbledore had to deal with."

"Be that as it may, Potter, I'm not at all happy about how this was done. I expected that the Minister would ask me for a list of suitable names. I can assure you that I would not have had a student on my list. This makes your remaining tenure here all the more difficult."

"If it's that difficult, I can leave. I'm very busy at the Ministry and can take courses at the Ministry. They have classes in languages, Magical Engineering, and auror skills."

"That's not what I want, Mr. Potter. It is important that you be in residence next term. I simply thought that we all agreed how important it was that I, and not the Ministry, was in full charge of Hogwarts."

"The Minister has always named the Governors. It would take the Wizengamot changing the law to alter that."

"Don't play the innocent with me, Mr. Potter. I think we both know that I could have supplied a list and the Minister could have appointed them. Afterall, I'm the one who is going to have to work with these Governors. It would be much easier if the Minister gave me a group that I got along well with, a group that shared my educational philosophy."

"I thought that you and I did get along," Harry protested.

"Don't be obtuse, Potter. This further shifts the character of our relationship. Anyhow, you know perfectly well that your name wasn't the one that most concerned me." McGonagall stalked back to her office. The air was still frosty during dinner and the following breakfast. Hermione, Ron, and I found work that needed to be done at the Ministry library, so that we could avoid lunch at Hogwarts.

I asked Harry "who are the other Governors."

"Good, but respectable Slytherins – Lord Montaigne, Barnabas Cuffe, Narcissa Malfoy, Doctor Sprout, and Alastaire Flint. You won't recognize Alastaire Flint. His son Captained the Slytherin Quidditch team against me. He is a merchant in Hogsmeade. He deals in spices and other foodstuffs, cloth, and lamp oil.

Harry and Cissy spent two afternoons a week learning from her father the history and duties of the Keeper. One afternoon a week was devoted to the lectures that Professor McGonagall had assigned to Neville, Draco, and Hermione. The other three afternoons we spent on magical training. Harry and I spent ninety minutes practicing magical skills, now focusing upon performing magic without a wand and on extending the range of our secret communication.

Another ninety minutes was spent teaching more basic skills to Hermione's Mom, Mr. Filch, and now Cissy. We always gave ourselves a half hour broom chase around the Quidditch court as a reward for a hard afternoon's practice. Filch could not bring himself to go more than ten feet off the ground, but was otherwise doing quite well. Hermione's Mom and Cissy made it a bit higher, topping out at about twenty-five feet. Professor McGonagall resumed the lecture series, so every Wednesday, Harry got back from the Ministry by noon, so we could have the lecture and still practice magic. Hermione's parents and Cissy were added to the lecture audience. Harry must have mentioned these special lessons, because Percy asked permission and did attend them.

Professor McGonagall assigned Harry a presentation on Goblins and Percy one on the organization of the Ministry of Magic. That left only one opening in the schedule, before we needed to prepare for the start of term and Harry asked Professor McGonagall to do a presentation on the Light Guardian and Wizard religious practices and beliefs. She agreed. On weekends we loafed and did some catching up. Harry and Hermione had to spend one whole weekend at the Ministry, preparing for a meeting with the Goblin King on the bank charter and the first Saturday, Lord Montaigne had us up before dawn. These three weeks were something of a pleasant blur, of which I'll just touch on the highlights.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter Thirty-Nine - What Is a Keeper?**

Three days after we returned from the Goblin King, Harry and Cissy had their first lesson to familiarize them with the role of the Keeper. At the end of the lesson, Lord Montaigne indicated that the time had come to visit the Dursleys, and that we would set forth the next day, which was a Saturday. He clearly didn't want to get too far into Harry's and Cissy's instruction if Dudley or Petunia looked to be suitable Keeper candidates. Shacklebolt revealed that the Dursleys were hidden away on the outskirts of Carlisle, in the north of England. Harry had already known this. Harry had phoned his uncle and arranged the visit.

I had the amusing vision of half a dozen Wizards descending on the Dursley front lawn, astride our brooms, but Harry corrected me "Lord Montaigne said 'naturally we'll take one of the Land Rovers, I never did learn to fly, apart from the helicopter: I was only in and out of Hogwarts over parts of three terms. You and your friends need to be at the castle by 5:00 A.M. so I can beat the traffic. We'll get breakfast on the way.'" We could have apparated to the castle, but since Harry had a strong desire to fly, I found myself rousted from bed at 4:00 A.M. on a 'lazy Saturday', scrambling into my Muggle clothes and joining the others in the common room. I was the last one down and surprised to see George, Luna, and Neville with their brooms. "We decided to escort you, considering how LeDoux replaced his predecessor," George explained, as we all carried our brooms out to the lawn. Bill also came with us.

It was an exciting, whooping ride across the lake and over the hills. We had our wands drawn, as if ready for an attack and I wondered if it was possible to launch our secret weapon from the air. Just the thought gave a slight feeling of invincibility as the eight of us raced in formation across the still dark forest, giving ourselves a fifty foot margin above the tallest trees. We might have some vulnerability to a group of Wizards firing curses from just below the crest of the leafy canopy, but the danger seemed remote at the speed we were flying. Having cleared the ridge of the hills, we swooped down toward the lumber mill and the castle beyond it, landing just inside the trees lining Lord Montaigne's manicured lawn. "We'll apparate back", George declared, "but it felt great to get in a flight of reasonable distance. It's been too long, but I feel exhilarated."

We said goodbye to our escort, and drew our wands to transform our brooms into straw hats as we strode across the grounds to the castle. Lord Montaigne and Cissy must have seen us arrive, because they left the castle as we landed and headed to meet us in the circle, where three Land Rovers were parked. "I'd think you'd get them in different colors, just to be able to tell them apart," Harry remarked.

"No, I've always been partial to blue Land Rovers," Lord Montaigne replied." We piled into the middle Land Rover and set off before dawn. Lord Montaigne said he realized that it violated Ministry security procedures, but that Bill could not come with us, because he planned to discuss Keeper secrets. He reminded Bill that for our meeting with the Goblin King, Bill had accompanied us only as far as the lobby of Gringotts. Harry agreed and, with reluctance, Bill departed. Once we were underway, Harry remarked that there didn't seem to be a lot of traffic and got the reply that we needed to get past Glasgow before it got 'trafficky'. Lord Montaigne used the travel time to quiz Harry and Cissy on the prior day's lesson.

"What is the role of the Unicorns?"

"The Unicorn is a purely magical beast," Harry replied. "It's presence in the forest sanctuary and the magical forces it emits help create a magical balance in which the other magical creatures can thrive. If the universe is out of order, the Unicorn supplies its blood for the Keeper of the Universe to energize the mandala that he has created to restore order. The mandala is energized by the insertion of the horns of two Unicorns at strategic spots and amplified by the magic of the Centaur tribe."

"Full credit to Harry and the answer to my next question as well. What is the role of the Goblins?"

Cissy responded "The Goblins protect the aligned lines of magical power anchored in the crystal circle within their sacred cavern. They adjust the anchors when the lines are out of balance, keep the crystals tuned, and guard the cavern. They synchronize the crystals in the Hogwarts cavern to other crystal circles throughout Europe, all of which are maintained by Goblins."

"That's eight out of ten for Cissy. The Goblins also must respond to the summons of the Keeper of the Covenant to conduct any necessary large magical engineering projects, such as regathering the central lines of force or creation of a new crystal circle with its anchored lines of magical force. The Goblins also must respond to the summons of the Keeper of the Covenant or Keeper of the Universe to take any necessary actions to keep the universe or local sanctuary in magical balance."

"Who may enter the sacred chamber and on what condition?"

There was a period of quiet, before Harry responded "Any magical creature may enter with the permission of the Goblin King. The Keeper of the Covenant and necessary assistants or the Messenger Elf who speaks for the Keeper of the Universe and the Master of the Universe may enter to convey a request or deliver a message related to an urgent threat to the magical balance of the Universe or of the local sanctuary associated with the sacred cavern. The Light Guardian may enter at any time. A Centaur dream-seer and one assistant must be allowed to enter whenever it is necessary to interpret or confirm a celestial prophecy and the dream-seer must be permitted to sleep within the crystal circle. Anyone else enters upon pain of death unless they can present evidence of a magical emergency requiring the intervention of the Goblins or a Keeper."

"Nine points to Harry. The Minister of Magic or the Headmaster of Hogwarts may enter the cavern to seek assistance if the failure of the magical protections imperils their institutions or the sanctuary. It is best to consult the Keeper on such matters, because a frivolous request could bring a penalty of death."

"What are the requirements to be Keeper of the Covenant?"

Cissy replied "The Keeper must be of the Montaigne family and must have been trained in the ways of the Covenant by the previous Keeper. If the prior Keeper is unable to conduct this training, the new Keeper may be trained by the Goblin King and the Centaur leader, working in unison. The new Keeper must be approved by a Unicorn and blessed by Unicorn tears. The Keeper must have enough magical power to activate the sacred ring."

"Ten points to Cissy. Who becomes Keeper of the Covenant if there is no suitable Montaigne heir?"

Harry responded immediately "If there is no Montaigne heir or no heir that the Unicorns will approve, then the Minister of Magic, with approval of the Wizengamot, will select a new Wizard family to maintain the Covenant and will select a new Keeper from that family. The unicorns must approve the selection."

"Very good, ten points. Now, under what conditions may a Keeper of the Covenant be removed from office?"

Cissy answered "death, incapacity that is permanent or at a time of crisis with the approval of the Wizengamot and Unicorns; conviction of treason by the Wizengamot with the approval of the Unicorns; conviction by the Wizengamot with Unicorn ratification of deliberate failure to carry out the duties of Keeper; loss of control of the land holding Hogwarts and the sanctuary, again upon approval of the Wizengamot and Unicorns; and being convicted of killing a Unicorn."

"Absolutely correct. Now Harry, what are the uses of the Keeper ring?"

"The Keeper ring opens the entrances to the sacred cavern from Montaigne Castle, Hogwarts, and Hogsmeade. The wearer of the Keeper ring is able to apparate into the sacred cavern. Within the sacred cavern, the Keeper ring can be used to summon the Messenger Elf and to activate or tune any of the crystals in the circle. When placed upon the horn of a Unicorn, the Keeper ring provides the Unicorn the power to sense the balance of the Universe and to communicate with the Keeper of the Universe. When placed upon the wand of the Keeper, the Keeper ring allows the Keeper to relocate and anchor the lines of magical force, to read the thoughts of most magical creatures, and generally amplifies the powers of that wand. Depending upon the Keeper who wears it, the ring may permit the Keeper to hear prophecies, while asleep or in a trance."

"That is correct. I confess that I have never heard a prophecy. My father said he never did, either. Everything I know of prophecies comes from Bane. How will the Keeper of the Covenant learn that the Universe is drifting out of magical balance?"

Cissy replied, "It is the duty of the Messenger Elf, or any Centaur who reads the signs in the night sky, to inform the Keeper of the Covenant. The Keeper may also learn of the imbalance through the dying of magic anywhere in the world."

"Nine points. The Unicorns may also sense the imbalance and report it. The sudden death of multiple Unicorns or their blood turning from silver to copper color is also a sure sign. Action is urgent when the blood of the Unicorn herd starts to turn copper, because copper-colored blood will not activate the mandala."

And finally, "What does the Keeper ring look like?" Cissy reached over from the front passenger seat to lift her father's right hand from the steering wheel. He held his hand so that we could see the large ring on his index finger. It was a silver ring, with a large clear crystal inset, which was secured by a lattice of silver wires. Lord Montaigne said "just so" as he returned his hand to the wheel.

"Why," asked Ron, "have your revealed these secrets within our hearing, after excluding Bill?"

"An excellent question, and one that I hope to fully answer before we stop for breakfast. I mentioned that the Keeper is allowed to bring an assistant into the sacred cavern. I am hoping that the three of you will agree to be assistants to myself, Harry, and Cissy. An assistant is required to be of good moral character, have magical ability, receive a minimum of training, be nominated by a Keeper or trainee Keeper, and be approved by the Minister of Magic and the Unicorns. These approvals are not required if the assistant is a direct blood relative of the Keeper. The assistants have a number of duties, the primary of which is to defend the Keeper and assist in the performance of the Keeper's duties.

"The assistants receive a non-sacred identification ring. This will not admit the assistant into the Sacred Cavern, but will allow the wearer to stand at the entrance and summon assistance. The ring also serves as identification to the Goblin King, head Unicorn, and head Centaur, and if you ever see him, the Messenger Elf. If for any reason the Keeper is unable to summon assistance, when necessary, the assistant may go to Gringott's bank, present the ring and demand an immediate audience with the Goblin King. This is for emergency use only, such as dire threat to the Keeper, a failure of magic, or imbalance in the sanctuary or Universe. The assistant is required to understand divination and prophesy and may be a source of guidance to the Keeper. I understand, Miss Weasley, that you recently received an almost perfect score on your Divination Newt.

"The assistant ring is not without power. For some wearers it enhances the ability to hear prophecies and on occasion enables limited mental communicating when the ring is placed upon your wand and your wand handle pressed to your forehead. If you think you are willing to be assistants, I will undertake your further training. You don't have to decide now. You can wait a while into your training. I know that you have already sworn to protect Harry. I hope you will also protect Cissy. I have my own protections, although I may require your assistance on other matters from time to time."

Those of us in the back looked at each other to get a sense of how we all felt. "The Goblin King said I was a very fierce warrior," I stated, with perhaps more than a trace of pride.

"I am impressed with Cissy's intelligence and business skills, and I like her at least as well as I can from the little bit of experience I have with her," Hermione said "but I'd hate to be pledged to assist and defend her in the event that she turned into a female Bruce."

"Quite understandable," Lord Montaigne quickly replied. "You would only be pledged to support her to the extent that she was carrying out her lawful duties as Keeper or trainee Keeper. In fact, it would be your responsibility to report her to the Minister, the Goblin King, the Keeper, and the Centaur leader if she acted contrary to the responsibilities of Keeper, or if she engaged in treasonous behavior, or became incapacitated and unable to fulfill her duties. You have the right as assistant to refuse to support improper behavior."

"In that case, I agree to proceed," "Hermione replied. The rest of us also agreed.

We had been on the road about an hour and a half and saw that we were almost upon Glasgow. Lord Montaigne said he wanted get to the far side of the city before we stopped for food. I was surprised when he pulled into a McDonald's. "A personal weakness of mine," he apologized as he pulled into the parking lot. As he ate way too much fat, thus paving the path for the next Keeper, Lord Montaigne reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a set of rings. He gave Harry and Cissy large Keeper rings and the rest of us smaller assistant rings. "They won't work until they're activated when you complete your training. To activate them, the crystal part of your ring needs to be touched by the crystal of my ring, the seal in the Minister's office, and the tears of a Unicorn. I'm somewhat embarrassed to mention the other thing you can do with the rings. They will unlock the back emergency exit of Slytherin House. A relic from a time when all of the Keepers, trainees, and assistants were Slytherins."

Back in the Land Rover, we were off to the Dursleys', over better roads than the first half of our trip. "There is another spot of embarrassment and possible trouble that I should mention," Lord Montaigne began. "I had started to train my son Bruce as a trainee Keeper. I don't know what became of his ring. I activated his ring, after I finished training him. I don't know whether or not he was able to convince a unicorn to activate it for him. Fortunately, I only issued one assistant ring on Bruce's behalf, because he was becoming a bit unsteady. Bruce did return that ring to me, saying his assistant had proven unworthy. Still, I would like to retrieve Bruce's ring. I asked for the ring back after Bruce was captured, but he told me "I threw that useless piece of garbage away years ago – pounded it flat and left it for dead. If they ever release me, I suppose I might lead you to its remains. Just as well to leave it where it lies, it's going back to the earth."

I don't like the idea of his having access to the sacred cavern, were he to somehow escape custody. Beyond that, I'd hate to think someone like Thicknesse had the ring. He couldn't enter the cavern through my castle, but I can't vouch as readily for the Hogwarts and especially Hogsmeade entrances".

The rest of the drive was devoted largely to Lord Montaigne's vocalization of his worries about Bruce and his attempts to secure a tolerable fate for him. "He's insane of course, but refuses to be examined. He has threatened to plead guilty with disavowal of mitigating circumstances if his lawyer presses him on the examination. There were lots of lamentations and unspoken pleas for assistance. Cissy finally said "I don't think there is anything that any of us can do to help you or Bruce. I don't think you can expect anything better than having him locked up for life." Her father turned his head to disagree, but ended up softly murmuring "but he's your blood," and then not speaking further. He sighed deeply and looked very sad for the rest of the trip. He studiously avoided looking at Cissy. I felt sorry for Cissy, although she wasn't reacting as if this treatment from her father was anything at all new.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter Forty – Dudley Does Hogwarts**

As we pulled into the driveway of the Dursleys' new home, I was struck by how much it matched the picture in my mind from Harry's description of the Privet Drive house where he grew up. The Dursleys had evidently been watching for us from behind the curtains, because the door immediately opened and all three Dursleys came out of the house to greet us. Based upon Harry's description of them, I couldn't help thinking this was intended to prevent us from entering the house.

Harry was out of the car first. "Hello, Aunt Petunia, it's good to see you again. How have you adapted to life in the north of England?"

Before she could say more than a soft "Hi Harry…," the voice of Harry's Uncle Vernon boomed out "I don't want any of your magical nonsense or any of your strange friends at this house. I suggest you get right back into that car and follow us down to the park, where we can talk at a quiet table."

He was short-circuited in his desire, as Lord Montaigne and the rest of us got out of the car and Dudley strode past his father to give Harry a big hug. "It's good to see you again, Harry." Dudley gave Harry a long hug, during which I could tell that they were whispering back and forth.

"Well, it looks to me like you've brought plenty of trouble and queer magical friends to our home," Uncle Vernon continued. "I won't have it, Harry. This is a nice neighborhood. I don't need for the neighbors to see a bunch of freaks and have to explain that one of them is my ne'er-do-well nephew, back for a visit. Dumbledore insisted that we give you a home while you were in school, and against my better judgment, we did, but I thought we were rid of all this magical nonsense."

"If you stop shouting, I don't think your neighbors will notice a thing," Harry reassured him. "Don't worry. I haven't come back to stay the summer. I just need to talk to all of you about a few things. Mainly, um, about a magical relative of grandfather's who died recently. But let me introduce my companions. This is Lord Montaigne, his daughter Cissy, my girlfriend Ginny, her brother and my best friend Ron, and Ron's girlfriend and my other best friend Hermione." Hands were offered and refused by all but Dudley. In fairness, Petunia shook my hand, gave me a smile and a soft "I'm glad Harry has found such a nice girl friend,' when a big 'harrumph' and scowl from Mr. Dursley caused her to blush and refuse the other hands which were proffered in her direction. As soon as the issue of shaking hands arose, Mr. Dursley stopped wringing his hands and clasped them behind his back, where they steadfastly remained until the danger of the exchange of magical cooties had passed.

After staring for a few more seconds, Harry's uncle blurted out "Did you say Lord? Is he a real Lord or one of your weird magician associates? He's not going to start acting all strange like that Dumbledore did, is he?"

"No, uncle, we all dressed in our Muggle clothes so we wouldn't attract attention. And yes, Lord Montaigne is a real British Lord. He is the British Government's secret emissary to the Wizard government. He's come to vouch for what I'm going to tell you, and to help you with the British government."

"Why would I need help with the government?"

"Well," Harry said, "Aunt Petunia's Wizard grandfather who died left an inheritance to Dudley and Aunt Petunia. We've come to deliver the inheritance and to check on how you're doing since you had to relocate."

"I wouldn't of had to relocate if it wasn't for all the trouble you caused. I'm hoping the inheritance isn't a funny hat, an owl, and a silly broom. I won't have magical things in the house, ever again. I'm putting my foot down. I gave in to Petunia on letting you live here, but I've done more than my part, and lost a good job into the bargain."

Lord Montaigne stepped forward and spoke smoothly and reassuringly. "I assure you, Sir, that the Wizard government has had the inheritance converted into British pounds. I'm here to assist you in avoiding any problems with the Treasury, since the money you are receiving can't be openly described as an inheritance from a Wizard."

"Did you say you brought money for us?" Harry's uncle asked with evident eagerness.

"An inheritance for Dudley?" Aunt Petunia purred.

"May we come inside, Sir?" asked Lord Montaigne, with just a hint of exasperation.

Harry's uncle responded, "I really think the park is best. If you back out of the drive, I'll get our car out and lead you …"

Dudley interrupted his father, inviting us to follow him into the house, which we did. Harry's uncle was rather red in the face and had both hands on his ample hips as we walked past him into the house. Lord Montaigne took a seat in the middle of the couch, and the rest of us filled in. Harry and Dudley carried in chairs from the dining room. When we were all seated, Lord Montaigne prepared to address Petunia, but Harry's uncle made a flustered motion with his hands and shouted, "well, get on with it man, the neighbors will be out working in their yards soon, and I don't want them to see you leaving."

"Very well," Lord Montaigne agreed. "I'll expedite matters." He handed envelopes to Petunia and Dudley. "Those envelopes contain draughts on the Bank of England in the amount of one million, nine-hundred thousand, and seventy-six pounds, each. I have a receipt for each of you to sign, acknowledging that you have received these checks." He passed around two documents and pens. "Finally, this letter gives the name of a high-ranking official in the Treasury, his phone number, and an explanation of what you need to do to avoid any problems from the government or bank in depositing and using these funds. As the letter explains, all taxes have been paid and this money is yours, free and clear, to do with whatever you choose."

"Is this a real check?" asked Harry's uncle, grabbing the check from Petunia, and staring at it intensely, but finding nothing wrong.

"I assure you, it is perfectly genuine. I could explain more now, or the gentleman from the Treasury, who is listed in the letter, can give you all the particulars."

"I wish that I could have at least met my great grandfather," Dudley lamented. "Father has been so opposed to anything magical that we never saw anyone from that side of the family. I never even met my grandfather. At least Harry and I met our grandmother." That admission was perhaps unwise, as Uncle Vernon fixed a caustic look upon his son.

"Harry and I went there a few weeks ago on my bike. It's a terrible thing not to know half your family," Dudley continued. "It's very nice to finally meet Harry's friends. I just wish that I could see where Harry goes to school and a little more of his world. I'm guessing it came very close to being my world as well, if Mom had been magical like Aunt Lily." I saw that Harry's Aunt Petunia was reddening.

Thinking it was wise to change the topic and better for someone other than Lord Montaigne to take the lead, I said to Dudley, "magical ability can skip a generation. Have you ever had things happen around you that made you think you had special powers or abilities?"

"No, strange things only happened when Harry was around me. I was with Harry when we were attacked by detestors. I got all cold and they nearly killed me. Harry saved my life. Sometimes when Harry got frightened or angry, things would just move on their own, without him wanting them to. Nothing like that ever happened to me."

"I see, and how old are you, Dudley", Lord Montaigne asked.

"Nineteen."

I asked Harry's Aunt Petunia the same question that I had asked her son. She too said she had never had any magical experiences, although she had tried very hard when she was young. She had wanted to go to Hogwarts with her sister Lily.

"Are you going back to Hogwarts?" Dudley asked Harry. "Could I visit with you for a few days?"

"I don't see why not," Lord Montaigne replied. "Now that you've got your inheritance, you're more or less in on the little secret anyway. I'm sure you would never reveal the secret, because that would hurt Harry, and endanger your family, and the government would have to hound you about your inheritance."

"I can keep a secret," Dudley replied. "Can I go with them, Mom?"

"I think a little trip would be fine, Dudley. I'd like to see the school, too, and finally find out what I missed. Do you want to see the school, dear?"

"No, I'll wait for you here and try to explain things to the neighbors," Harry's uncle replied. He looked at Petunia and an expression of surprise blossomed on his face as he realized that Petunia would actually make the trip without him.

Lord Montaigne looked a little embarrassed and admitted, "I'm not sure I have space in the Rover for everyone."

"That's fine," Ron replied "we can apparate back to Hogwarts, you and Cissy can have the car to yourselves."

"I'm sure Cissy would rather stay with you. I'll just take the opportunity to tool down to Sheffield."

"Now", Harry said, "I don't want anyone to be shocked, but we are going to all hold hands in a circle, holding on very tightly, and then you'll feel like you're falling down a very deep hole, and then when you open your eyes, you'll be at Hogwarts. Uncle Dursley will just hear a little pop and we'll be gone. Say goodbye to him."

"Goodbye dear, I'll see you in a couple days."

And then we were standing outside the Hogwarts gate, requesting admittance.

"You can't see the school from here," Harry explained. Professor Sprout came and opened the gate for us. We walked toward the castle, and Petunia gave an "aah" as it came into view.

"I don't suppose you actually fly around on brooms?" she asked "I expected the gatekeeper to sort of motor up hovering above the ground on her broom."

"Well," I replied, "watch this". I pulled my wand out of my jeans, took off my hat and transformed it into a broom. My companions, except for Cissy, did the same. "Let's go over to the Quidditch field and we can show you what flying looks like."

Harry led us to the Quidditch patch and the four of us lifted off in unison. Hermione seemed more comfortable just flying lazy loops about fifty feet off the ground, but Harry, Ron, and I put on a show flying almost straight up, zipping through the goal at one side of the field and then the other, and then zooming down so low that our feet almost touched the ground as we sped across the field as rapidly as we could, before pulling up and doing a loop that had us flying upside down for thirty feet, before we righted ourselves and came in to land with a whoop.

"That certainly looked like fun," Dudley gasped, "much cooler than video games, and more daring than riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Turning a straw hat into a broom is a neat trick too, perhaps not as much fun as when you blew up Auntie and she drifted off across town. Cissy has been trying to explain Quidditch to me, but I don't really get the gist of it."

"We'll give you a demonstration, tomorrow," Harry promised. "For now, we better get back to the castle and let the headmaster know that I've brought guests to the school. She probably won't be very happy."

We went up the front stairs and across the Entry Hall. Harry parked us at the gargoyle, saying he had to make apologies to Professor McGonagall. He didn't get the chance. Professor McGonagall's office door opened and she started down the stairs as Harry was about to start up. "Potter, Professor Sprout tells me you have something to say to me."

"Yes, Professor McGonagall. I'd like you to meet my Aunt Petunia and Cousin Dudley. They're visiting me for a couple days. Lord Montaigne told them they would certainly be welcome to stay at Gryffindor for a couple days. We'll show them around and take care of them."

"You certainly will. I'm pleased to meet you, Mrs. Dursley. I was very fond of your sister. I understand that you were always very anxious to see Hogwarts. It's good to meet you as well, Dudley. Harry has spoken of you. I'm Minerva McGonagall and I'm the new headmaster of Hogwarts. Dinner will be served in the Great Hall in twenty minutes. Ginny will show you to seats. I need to have a quick word with Harry, but we'll rejoin you at the table."

"Well?" Hermione asked when Harry returned.

"Let's just say it would be wise not to mention Lord Montaigne's name for a while," Harry replied.

"I did ask her if she knew anything about assistant Keepers or the rings. She said no and the ring did not look at all familiar to her: she had never even seen Montaigne wear such a ring. She expressed great surprise that the rings unlock the rear door to Slytherin. She seemed even more surprised when I told her that it apparently was not uncommon for Slytherin students to be trainee Keepers or assistants. She wondered aloud whether any of the present Slytherins had rings. She also wondered whether anyone had a way into the back door of Ravenclaw. She warned me that we all had too many balls in the air and that errors and tragedy were the normal consequence.

"I told her that I realized that, but that it was because we were so extended and vulnerable that we needed an eye into all the power centers that could complicate things. By the way I think we need to barricade our emergency exit from the inside tonight."

Back in the common room, Harry showed Dudley the pictures of his parents. In addition to being astounded that the pictures moved, Dudley and then Petunia were thrown into a binge of introspection and regret for how they had treated Harry over the years. It appeared that Mr. Dursley had been the root of almost all of the animosity toward Harry.

"I didn't realized how great a help to me you were for all those years until you were gone," Dudley confided. "It's not just that you saved my life, it's that you protected me from Dad. He was so focused on you, that he found nothing at all wrong with me. Since you've been gone, he's found more and more things wrong about me. He's so afraid that I'll do something that will cause the neighbors to think less of him. I went down to the local pub with friends FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD, and he accused me of making the family look lower class by drinking a pint with the lads. He asked, what would our next door neighbor Mr. Smythe think? I told him that since Mr. Smythe made his living importing drugs from the Netherlands and repackaging them for sale in Glasgow, that he could hardly object to my having one pint a week. But I don't want to turn this into a gripe session. I wish you could tell me about my grandfather's world and the relative who left me the inheritance."

"I'll tell you what I can, but you have to keep it secret," Harry replied. "I didn't have permission to say much when we went on our bike trip, but you know enough now that I can't see the harm. I'm sure someone else will, see the harm that is, and demand that I explain myself. Anyway, our grandfather had Wizard parents and may have been a magical Wizard, himself. There's no way we'll ever know for sure. Our great-grandfather, who was also Lord Montaigne's father, had our grandfather adopted by a non-Wizard family and paid for his schooling. We don't know why he chose to do this. Since grandfather was the eldest son, he would have become Lord Montaigne. He grew up, married, had the two daughters that you know about, and from everything I could discover led a very happy and productive life, until he was killed in that very suspicious accident, which you know about."

"Our great-grandfather's estate was just settled," Harry continued, "and you and I and your mom received an inheritance. That's all I know. Perhaps Aunt Petunia can fill in some of the gaps."

"Me first!" Dudley could not hold back the product of his sleuthing any longer. "I reviewed the police reports, which were very sketchy, and even saw their lab results. I spoke to the patient and his neighbors. I was surprised to find that he was still alive. Anyhow, I learned that grandfather was killed by a young male hit-and-run driver, who smashed another car in trying to get away, and had to reverse and drive over grandfather again. The driver and the car were never identified, although broken glass and paint residue left at the scene proved that the car was a blue Land Rover. I'd say that Lord Montaigne might have killed our grandfather, but he wouldn't have been young enough then. He does have the blue Land Rover and, if he stole our inheritance, he certainly has a motive."

"Lord Montaigne has an evil son, who would have been the correct age," Harry informed Dudley. Petunia gasped.

Petunia took up the story. "I was always a little jealous of Lily, because from the time that she was nine or ten, she became father's special pet. Up until then, I had imagined myself to be his favorite, but in truth, I was always closer to Mom. Dad was a very kind and gentle man, who treated all of us very well, and was beloved by his patients. Because of Dad, Lily and I were always favorites of the parents in the neighborhood. Dad worked very hard and often was called out at night to visit a sick patient at home or in hospital. Still, he always tried to be with us for breakfast and dinner and to entertain us in the evening, first by reading stories to us, when we were young, and then by performing magic tricks for us." I saw Harry's interest being piqued by this comment. He reached out to touch my hand [excitement] My grandfather wasn't a squib!

"What sort of tricks did he do to amuse you," I asked in as innocent a tone as I could muster.

"Oh, the usual. He would show us a coin in his hand, rotate it in and out of his knuckles and then spread his hand open and show us that the coin had vanished. He would then ask Lily, who was sitting on the other side of Mom, quite out of Dad's reach, to look in the pocket of her shorts. Lily would reach in her hand, and the coin would always be there. At first, I thought they were working together and Lily started with her own coin, but then I checked the details on Dad's coin and searched Lily before the trick started. He also could make a ghost when he put us to bed. We'd all go into the room and Dad would turn off the light and with just a candle burning on the bed table, he would make a whooshing sound and a corresponding motion with his hands and the center of the bed sheet would rise up a foot or two and shake menacingly. He stopped that trick after I was afraid to crawl under that sheet one night."

"That's very interesting," Harry said. "Do you remember anything about the investigation of grandfather's death?"

"It's as Dudley said. Not much was ever discovered. A person in the neighborhood had been up late that night and heard the collision a little after 1:00 A.M. She reported a thump and then a crash. Dad was hit in the middle of the road, but the driver then hit the front end of his car. He had to reverse and then drive forward to get away, so the woman was able to see the car as it disentangled itself from Dad's car and drove off. She said it was a very large car, with one broken headlamp. The police determined it was blue, from the paint left on Dad's car. They identified it as a Land Rover from the pieces of glass left at the scene. The police checked all the garages in the area, but a car matching the description was never brought in to be repaired or scrapped. Even though my father was a very popular man, the police had no leads and lost all interest after a month."

"I know what you're thinking, but there are lots of blue Land Rovers in England," Cissy interjected.

"I know there are," Harry replied, "both today and sixteen years ago."

"You know Daddy would never do such a thing."

"I agree, but Bruce would have been twenty-one at the time," Harry responded. This thought definitely gave Cissy pause, but she finally replied.

"Would Bruce have even known of your grandfather's existence or where to find him?"

"What is it?" Dudley demanded.

"Probably nothing at all," Harry told him. "It's just that Bruce had access to the records of the New Start Society. He could easily have learned about grandfather and where he lived."

"I'm going to find out what else I can dig up," an indignant Dudley promised. "I think it is clear that our grandfather was murdered and almost certainly by this Bruce."

"I don't think you're wrong," Harry replied, "but it will be very hard to prove. It doesn't matter to anyone but us, because Bruce is already in jail for far more serious crimes." Dudley had difficulty taking in this last statement and we all thought it best not to elaborate.

Harry apparated Petunia and Dudley back home two days later, not staying to chat with his uncle. During the two days of Dudley's visit, Harry took him to the Ministry to see his office and meet Dad, took him to George's shop, and gave him a taste of Wizarding by coaching him and his mother through a potions making class, in which they tried to make Veritaserum. As Harry said, you don't need magical skills to brew a potion. With Harry's help, they turned out a credible batch. We worked with both Dudley and Petunia, trying to teach them how to perform simple magic, using a variety of wands. We focused upon levitating feathers, as well as upon the 'Lumos' spell. We considered these to be the easiest and most basic spells to master. We were unsuccessful. After the first session, I was sure that neither Dursley had the native skill to learn magic, but Harry insisted that we had to keep at it. After four sessions, Harry gave up. I think he just didn't want to have Dudley's or Petunia's inheritance stolen, if they possessed even a shred of magical talent.

Whether wise or not, Harry let Dudley take a vial of vertitaserum. He also gave Dudley vials of Felix and Polyjuice, to help him with his inquiries into the murder. At least he didn't mention the gift to McGonagall or my parents. George gifted Dudley a very fine collection of Weasley Wonders, from his favorite fireworks, to puking pastilles, Weasley blackout, Weasley floor slip, and the forgetfulness fig. We didn't want Dudley to be defenseless, if a Wizard came after him. To that end, Hermione gave him the smallest of the Muggle bombs which she had found, and George gave him what he called 'the one-shot wonder'. This was a variant of a Muggle pistol, disguised as a wand. "Just point this wand at any attacking Wizard, and while he's laughing at you, you shoot him. I doubt you'll hit him if you're farther than six feet away. Hold onto the wand handle very tightly. The thing fights back."

"You know these things are quite illegal in Britain," Hermione warned Dudley. "Keep them well hidden and don't use them unless you have no other choices." I thought my gift to Dudley was the least violent and most useful. I gave him a special portkey shaped like a ceramic turtle, which would transport him to the Leaky Cauldron if he grabbed it in one hand and ripped off its tail. Lee Jordan assured me that it would work without any magical ability, although Dudley would be very sick at the end of his trip.

Like Dad, I was not at all happy that Cissy had been a tag-along at as many meetings as she had. It worried me that she knew that Dudley knew what he did. At least she was unaware of the portkey and the one-shot wand. I may be a cynic, but I assumed that what Cissy knew, Lord Montaigne would also know, and therefore so would Bruce.

We also staged a four-on-four Quidditch scrimmage with Harry, Hermione, Luna, and me against George, Ron, Neville, and Draco. Dudley seemed to enjoy the visit immensely, with the highlights being Peeves and some of the magical beasts, including a Unicorn, which Hagrid showed him. Petunia said she was glad to finally get a taste of the life that Harry and Lily had lived and that, while she found everything new and exciting, she felt she could happily return to her own life.

Break, break, break

It breaks a lot of rules, but the onus is on Lord Montaigne. Dudley and Petunia deserved to see Hogwarts. We'll have to wait and see how big a role they play in the continuing story. A Muggle traveling by portkey may not be quite in accord with J.K.'s canon, but Dudley does have at least some Wizard genes in his body.


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter Forty-One – Professor Longbottom**

Neville had the next lecture in the series. He had chosen a topic which was both very scientific and the focus of the hobby he shared with his grandmother. His grandmother had hybridized daylilies for thirty years, or as Neville chose to describe the activity, 'the scientific study of genetic inheritance in the species hemerocallis, with a focus upon segregation distortion in the genetic inheritance of phenotype'. I made a note to remind Neville that showing off and using big words could lessen the interest of his students. However, Neville gave only the barest historical scientific summary, before grabbing us with the importance and relevance of his topic. In truth, he ran out of time, before he reached the content he had advertised in the title to his lecture.

"Muggles and Wizards have cultivated and raised specific plants and animals for many centuries, breeding and selecting the best from each generation in a manner that gives us plants and animals that are superior to our needs, compared to the wild varieties with which our ancestors started."

Hermione let out a little gasp as Neville began his first demonstration. "Here I give you Cruikshanks," with which Cruikshank's was hoisted up by his chest and front paws from a hidden spot behind the lecture desk and plunked on the desktop, "and here are photographs of some of Cruikshanks' ancestors, far larger and fiercer, and not at all what you would want to share a dorm room with." He passed around the photographs.

Cruickshanks took the opportunity to leap off the desk and scurry onto Hermione's lap. Hermione petted Cruikshanks as she glared at Neville.

"And here are pictures of dozens of different varieties of cats, which humans have created by selective breeding to suit their peculiar tastes. These domestic cats have changed far faster than the cats of the wild, because their breeding is carefully managed. Cat breeders only allow the cats which best show the desired characteristics to reproduce. Those kittens without the trait are neutered, or even killed. This is not totally different from how Wizards treat their Squibs.

"Here is the wheat that Wizards grow on their farms and here are some wild grasses which were the ancestors of the wheat we grow. The wild plants do fine on their own but the larger seed head gives more flour and produces more seeds per plant, so it suits us better. The remnants of ancient potato species from Peru, and modern potatoes from the Weasley garden at the Burrow. Which would you rather grow and eat?

"Initially, this selective breeding was fairly primitive - just picking the best plants each year to propagate, but about a hundred and forty years ago, the Muggle scientist Gregor Mendel established a scientific basis for predicting inheritance of plant characteristics. He did his research with peas, which behave in very simple fashion. Like Muggles and Wizards, peas are what is called a diploid, which means that in each of its cells, which are the basic building blocks of an animal or plant, there are two copies of each of the genes. These genes determine what the plant will look like.

This must seem complicated at first so we'll step back a few minutes and take a look at some pieces of living things, using Muggle microscopes that my grandmother lent to me. You can take turns using the two microscopes. The first slide that I've set up is a piece of leaf. If you look at it, you can see that it is made up of regularly shaped units called cells and that each of these cells has a fairly thick wall around it. The inside of the cell includes a fairly large blob in the center, called the nucleus. The genes are inside the nucleus."

We took turns looking in the microscope and observed the cells and nucleus. Neville next stuck his finger with a needle, putting a drop of blood on each slide, to show us that our blood also contained cells and that each cell had a nucleus. He pointed out that there were different kinds of cells in the blood, but that each one contained a nucleus and each nucleus contained the same two copies of each gene.

"I simplified a little when I said that each cell contains two copies of each gene. The reproductive cells of a plant or animal contain only one copy of each gene. When a plant produces a female egg cell or a male pollen cell, for each gene, one of the two copies is randomly chosen. When the pollen cell fertilizes the egg cell, the fertilized egg again has two copies of each gene, and one of them has come from each of its parents. The fertilized egg matures into a plant seed - in the case I'll discuss that seed is a pea. The same principle applies to animals, including Wizards. Each gene can come in one of two forms.

Let's assume our gene decides seed color: either yellow (y) or green (g). The fertilized seed can have four possible combinations of genes: yy, yg, gy, gg. It doesn't matter whether a particular gene came from the mother or father, so yg and gy are the same thing. It should be obvious that the yy seed yields a yellow pea and the gg seed yields a green pea. But what about the two peas with the yg gene combination? What color will they be? That depends which color is dominant and which is recessive. Dominant means that a gene wins out in the case of a tie. Recessive means it loses. So, if yellow is dominant, then the yg peas are all yellow. The notation used for this is capitalize the dominant form: 'Y'. The recessive green is lower case: 'g'.

If the mother's cells contain the genes YY, then the egg cell can only contain the Y gene. However if the mother's cells contain the two genes Yg, then the egg can contain either an 'Y' gene or an 'g' gene, chosen totally at random. Let's say the plant that is the father has cells with the genes 'gg'. In this case the pollen can only contain a 'g' gene.

"How does one determine which form of the color gene, yellow or green, is dominant. The case I've described is actually a very famous experiment done with sweet peas. A specific kind of sweet pea can be either green or yellow. There is no in-between color. The Muggle scientist Mendel observed by breeding a lot of peas. He learned that if he put the pollen from a plant that makes green peas onto a plant that makes yellow peas (or reversing pod and pollen parents), that all of the first generation child plants had yellow peas. When he fertilized these first generation children with each other, he found that the second generation of child plants had three-quarters yellow peas and one-quarter green peas. What Mendel decided from his data was that the Yellow gene was dominant and the green gene was recessive. This means that a plant can only make green peas, if both copies of its color gene are the recessive green gene.

"Since yellow is dominant, a plant will make yellow peas if it contains either one yellow gene or two yellow genes. Here two different combinations of genes: either YY or YG, yield the same result: a yellow pea. We can't tell by looking at the yellow pea whether the plant's cells contain one or two 'Y's. This means Mendel's original parent generation must have had plants which were YY and gg. This was just luck. They could have been Yg and gg, which would make interpreting the experiment a little harder.

"The first generation kids from Mendel's experiment would all have the gene combination Yg and would have to be yellow. Since a random crossing Yg X Yg gives the equal probability of YY, Yg, Yg, and gg, we will have second generation kids with one-quarter having two Y genes, half having both a Y and a g gene, and a quarter having two g genes. That is the ratio of gene combinations of 1:2:1, but since it takes only one A gene to produce the yellow pea, the ratio of pea color is 3:1 yellow : green. Since the second generation kids had peas which were 3/4 yellow, Mendel showed that his genetic model was correct and that yellow was dominant.

"It is very important to remember that you can't pick up an AA 'pure-blood' pea and tell any difference at all from the Aa 'Mudblood' pea. They look exactly the same."

"Now, if Wizard genetics were as simple as pea genetics, my grandmother would have finished a long time ago and wouldn't have started working with hemerocallis to test more complicated genetics. Unfortunately, we don't think predicting magical ability is as simple as dominant magical M or dominant squib S". When I get to the daylily experiments, I'll be talking about how Gran and I made this little beauty. It's called Margali's Matrix, an appropriately Wizardly name. You can see the bluish eye zone in the center of the flower, with the light pink on the petals. Those slightly raised bright areas are called midribs, by the way, but we'll get to that later..."

"Can you give us the simplified explanation on magical ability as if Wizards were as simple as peas?" Hermione asked.

"I've met some Wizards who are as simple as peas", Ron chimed in, looking at Pansy for no particular reason.

"I'll try," Neville replied, "(a dangerous thing getting a first year professor to deviate from his notes.) Let's call the gene for magical ability M. We don't know if being magical is dominant M or recessive m (which would make not being magical dominant). Okay, since we know that most people in the world aren't magical, let's start with the assumption that magical ability is not dominant. In that case, every student at Hogwarts would have to have the genotype 'mm', otherwise, they wouldn't be magical. That would mean that, even on the level of the gene for magic, there is no difference between pure bloods and mixed bloods. I'll call the non-magical form of this gene S, for dominant non-magical squib.

"Now, since she raised the question, let's take the genetics of Hermione. Her maternal grandfather was a magical, reputedly pure-blood Wizard, but in any case, for this example, he is magical so he must be 'mm', since in this assumption the magical trait is recessive. Now, her maternal grandmother is a nonmagical Muggle, either 'Sm' or 'SS'. But, we know that Hermione's mother is magical, so she must be 'mm', which means for this case to work, Hermione's maternal grandmother must have been 'mS'. Hermione's mother had a 50-50 chance of turning out magical, given who her parents were, and just happened to be magical, or Hermione wouldn't be here with us. Hermione's father is not magical, so he is either 'mS' or 'SS', but since Hermione is magical, her father must be 'mS'. Again a 50-50 chance. We could see this better if Hermione had a lot of siblings, but she doesn't.

"Now, this is plausible at first glance, until you consider the ramifications for the Muggle population. It seems a bit of a coincidence that both Hermione's father and her maternal grandmother were both 'mS'. Take the hypothetical case that the entire Muggle population was 'mS': random pairings of Muggles would result in one-quarter of their children being 'mm' and magical. But, we know that there are 4000 times as many Muggles as Wizards in Britain. If the whole Muggle population were 'mS', then there would be 1000-times as many Muggle-born Wizards as Wizard-born Wizards.

"That just isn't true, unless Hogwarts somehow misses almost all of the magical Muggle-borns and they never come here. We know that at Hogwarts, students born to Wizard parents outnumber those from the Muggle world by 4 to 1. If we take that actual proportion of Muggle-born Wizards to Wizard-born Wizards at Hogwarts, then the odds are less than one in 5000 that a random Muggle is 'mS' and well less than one in a million that a married Muggle couple are both 'mS'. The odds aren't that long that both Hermione's father and her maternal grandmother just happened to be 'mS', since Hermione isn't just some randomly selected Muggle child, we know she is magical. It's also possible that The New Start Society somehow locates the adoptive parents of squibs in such a way that they are far likelier than normal to run into and marry another squib, than random chance. If two squibs marry, there is only one chance in four that any particular child of theirs will be magical, but that is a fairly high chance, when you think about it. Of course, I can think of no reason why the Great Families who control the New Start Society would want to have magical grand-children returning to the Wizarding world. I'd expect that those who knew what was going on would find that very upsetting and do whatever they could to keep one Squib from marrying another Squib or marrying a Witch or Wizard. If you hate Mudbloods, you don't set out to make more of them."

"I admit that result is possible, but it still sounds awfully unlikely," Hermione declared. "Can you work out the second case for us, where magical ability is dominant."

"But, but", Harry asked Neville, "you said it yourself, doesn't the fact that Hermione IS sitting here change the odds on her relatives being 'mS' genotype? I mean there are millions of girls born to Muggle parents who aren't sitting here. Perhaps their relatives are the 999 in 1000 and Hermione's are the one in a thousand. Using your logic, you'd draw an entirely different conclusion if you went into a Muggle school and randomly looked at the thousand kids there. So this first case could be correct."

"There is that," Neville admitted. "I'll have to think more on it, but I think what it is saying is that only a small portion of the Muggle population can be 'mS'. For example, if only one quarter of muggles is 'mS', then one in 64 Muggle children would be magical. That still results in about a hundred times as many magical children arising in the Muggle world each year than in the Wizard world. We know that isn't true. If one sixteenth of Muggles were 'mS', then almost one out of a thousand Muggle children would be magical. That doesn't sound like a lot, but for that to be true, four-fifths of Hogwarts students would be Muggle born. Muggle-born Wizards make up a much smaller portion of the Hogwarts student body than that. So we know that the great majority of Muggles will be 'SS'. If we assume all of the 'mS' Muggles arise from Wizard Squibs, then we could calculate the number of total Squibs in the Muggle population. I guess I almost have done that calculation. Quickly doing the math in my head, a dangerous thing to try to do, says that about 1 Muggle in 100 is an 'mS' Squib. It doesn't mean they all started life as the Squib children of Wizards who were thrown out of our world. Some would be the descendents of these Squibs. Others would be the children of unscrupulous Wizards, like Bruce, who left pregnant Muggle girls whose children never were a part of our world. The records of the New Start Society may give us a better estimate of the actual ratio."

"The second case, the dominant gene case…" Hermione tried to hustle Neville along. I think she believed he was stalling. He certainly was nearing the end of his lecture time.

"As to Hermione's second question, I'll try to work through this on the fly, without prepared notes. If magical ability is dominant, then M will stand for magical and either the genotype "MM or Ms' leads to magical children. That means the students at Hogwarts would be some blend of 'MM' and 'Ms'. Mr. Black was reputedly a pureblood Wizard, so let's assign him 'MM' to start. As far as we know, Hermione's maternal grandmother was not magical, so we'll assign her an 'ss'. In this example, Hermione's mother has no choice but to be 'Ms' and magical. It would also follow that each of Bruce's illegitimate children must be magical. Hermione's father is not magical, so we'll assign him 'ss'. So what are Hermione's chances of being born magical? Ms X ss yields Ms, Ms, ss, and ss, so that Hermione had even odds of being magical.

"This also works for Harry. His mother is magical and his aunt is not. All the evidence we have says his grandmother was not magical. That means his grandfather must be 'Ms'. That would give half magical daughters. If he were 'MM', then both of his daughters would have to be magical, and Petunia isn't. Lily is 'Ms', giving her a 100% chance of producing a magical offspring if James was 'MM' and a 75% chance, if James was "Ms'. So, the calculation holds. Petunia and Dudley's father aren't magical, so they are both 'ss', making Dudley also 'ss' and not magical. We're still okay.

"Now what are the implications of the assumption of dominant M to the Wizard and Muggle population? For the Wizards, it becomes impossible for any pureblood 'MM' Wizard or Witch to produce an offspring who is a Squib. In fact, a pureblood 'MM' Wizard could marry a 'mm' Muggle and all of their children would have to be magical. Thus, no member of a Great Family, assuming as they do that they are truly pure-blooded, can possibly produce a Squib - by this simple genetic model, of course. But we know that they have produced quite a lot of Squibs. That suggests that many members of the Great Families aren't actually pure bloods, as they pretend to be. Some Muggle got in there, somewhere along the line.

"Meanwhile, let's look at the supposedly lesser families, which supposedly are not pureblood. If two 'Ms' mixed-blood Wizards marry, one-quarter of their children would be Squibs. If two Squibs were to marry, they would each be 'ss' and there is no way that a child of theirs could be magical. I note that this is a higher proportion of Squibs than we believe are produced by members of the lesser Families. This also would mean that there is no way for a Muggle-born to be magical unless one parent is magical. There can be no accidental Muggle-borns. Either one parent is magical and wasn't identified and sent to Hogwarts, or the child's father is a Bruce.

"I don't think case two fits with what we observe, although it is certainly closer to reality than case one, and suggests that magical ability is dominant. For this case to be absolutely true, then at least one of the parents of every Muggle-born at Hogwarts would have to be an improperly-declared Squib. Well, an improperly declared Squib, or the child of an unscrupulous Wizard, like Bruce. In either case, restitution would be due to an awful lot of Hogwarts students and grads. Now, if we consider…"

"Um, Neville, I think you've given us all a lot to ponder," Professsor McGonagall said. "I realize that Hermione diverted you from your script, and I want to give you a chance to discuss your hemerocallis breeding, but I think we'll have to save that for another day. Let's say this Sunday at 2:00 P.M.

"I must congratulate you. For a new professor you fought your way through an unexpected diversion with remarkable precision, clarity, and lack of stumbling and mumbling around. Your lecture was entertaining and informative, not to mention personalized, but I think you've reached the saturation point for new thoughts in one class. I encourage you all to discuss among yourselves what Neville has said. I can tell you that Dumbledore and I took this very, very seriously, when Neville's grandmother gave us a less organized version of this lecture some twenty-odd years ago. Class dismissed."

"Excuse me," Neville interrupted, "there is one more thought I should throw out for everybody to think about, before we break. Remember that as I explained in the simple either/or model, the peas were either green or yellow. There was no in-between color. Yg is just as yellow as YY. So, the other conclusion of the simple model is that there are no gradations in native magical ability. You are either magical or you're not. Any differences we see in adult Wizards must be purely a result of the quality of their education and the amount that they practice. If all Wizards studied and practiced as diligently as the most magical of Wizards, they would have equivalent skill. I'm not convinced that this is true, which means that reality is at least a bit more complicated than my simple model. Next time, I'll talk about a bit more complex model, which might do a better job of explaining what we see. Unfortunately, without more and better data, it is almost impossible to pick the proper complex model. Thank you for attending my lecture."

"And thank you, Neville, both for the quality of the lecture and for not allowing me to bully you into stopping at an inappropriate spot," Professor McGonagall announced. "Class dismissed."

Hermione spoke over McGonagall, commenting "then Mister Filch must have as much magical ability as any of us!"

"According to this very simple genetic model, anyway," Neville replied, "but, of course, we know that isn't true. That's just the weakness of simple models. They break down when you try to extend them too far. Of course, Mr. Filch was quite old when anyone first tried to teach him to use magic, or allowed him to try a wand. That could make a big difference, although Hermione's mother seems to be learning magic a lot faster."

Harry went up and congratulated Neville and the rest of us joined in. I was still considering what Hermione had said.

The greatest compliment to Neville came from Cissy, who was so impressed that she went up to Professor McGonagall after we were dismissed and said that this lecture was so informative that she hoped there was some way to make up the two lectures she had missed. Professor McGonagall lent her the lecture notes to study. I noticed that Hermione borrowed them for her mother to read, before they were returned to Professor McGonagall, but what really surprised me was that Harry told Hermione that he would return the notes, because Percy wanted to take a look at them first.

I finally raised my courage on the way back to the common room, asking Harry, "Doesn't Mister Filch have an obvious magical talent, which has been missed all these years. One which you and I are uniquely positioned to recognize?"

"Huh?" was Harry's response, but Hermione, whom I thought hadn't been able to hear what I had said, my voice having been lowered for Harry's ears only, immediately responded, "of course! From our experiences and all the tales of Filch and Mrs. Norris hunting down stray students at night, Filch is clearly able to read his cat's thoughts at a great distance."

"That's not possible," Ron declared. "Mind-talking to animals doesn't happen. I've never heard of a Witch or Wizard being able to do it."

"Mind-talking?" Hermione jumped on him. "Did you just make that up? That's an awfully strange and specific term for a skill that doesn't exist."

"No, that's what it's called. But it's like the Tales of Beedle the Bard, just stories that moms tell to little kids. Everyone knows it isn't real."

"Still, I'm going to test it," Hermione declared, stomping off as if she felt Ron had insulted her.

I overheard Neville and Harry discussing the lecture. Harry asserted and Neville basically agreed that "the second Magic is dominant model explains the increase in Squibs over the years. The Great Families started pure-blood and could not possibly have produced Squibs. Over time, even though they've denied it, more and more mixed blood entered the families. We've reached the point now, where most pure-blood families must be no purer of blood than the lesser families. We should try to find the proportion of Squibs both within the Great Families and in the other families."

Neville asserted that "it's very possible that some magical Wizards, like Filch, lost their magical ability due to an injury or mental trauma."

I told Harry "it seems strange to think this, but I get the sense that Neville's Gran is the most modern of all of us, who were born within the Wizarding world. She's not a professor, yet she's been doing research for decades and seems to be the number one expert on Squibs. We really should talk to her."

Break, break, break

A very dense chapter, but significant to the plot.


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter Forty-Two – Spelunking with Lord Montaigne**

That Friday was an eventful day. Harry came back from the Ministry and announced that the Minister wanted Hagrid to return to the Giants' sanctuary to check on the progress being made by the new Giant leader, Hogmo, and to make sure that both the peace and the integrity of the sanctuary were still holding. I suggested to Harry that, given recent sensitivities, he would be well advised to discuss the matter with Professor McGonagall prior to dispatching one of her faculty on another multi-week trip this close to the start of a new term.

Professor McGonagall blessed the excursion and Hagrid set off immediately saying, "I wanted to check and see how Grawpy was doing, anyways." For this trip, Hagrid said he would apparate and return within a week. I was thankful that the permanent restoration of Hagrid's Wizard privileges had allowed Bill to teach him to apparate. I felt much better about Hagrid's safety during this trip.

The biggest piece of excitement was that all five of us were to participate in the afternoon Keeper training and it was to take place at Hogwarts, with Lord Montaigne and Cissy to arrive at 2:00 P.M. We were all highly expectant, viewing the choice of Hogwarts, instead of the castle, for the lesson as a strong indication that we were about to be shown the location of the entry door to the Sacred Cavern. Harry might be allowed to see the cavern itself for the first time.

Lord Montaigne led us straight to Professor McGonagall's office, knocking on her door and begging permission to transit. He invited her to join us, when she gave him a rather skeptical look. We all strode across her office to the rear corner that opened into what we all thought of as Dumbledore's private office. This is the first time that I had been in this inner sanctum. It still contained Dumbledore's old day bed, two extremely sturdy file cabinets (which as I remembered Professor McGonagall had been unable to open), and a fireplace that filled the whole back wall as we entered the room. Lord Montaigne strode straight to the fireplace and placed his ring up against the eyehole of the eye of a snake's head, as seen from the side. This relief was at the right side of the fireplace mantle. I noticed a gryphon to the left of this symbol, the Peverell eye to the left of that, a fierce looking bird to its left, and a symbol that looked like a fancy ring in the far left corner. After a wait of about fifteen seconds, the whole fireplace slid inward a little over three feet, revealing steep stone stairs, with unfinished rock walls, which descended to the right. It was dark enough that, even standing in the front file with Harry and Lord Montaigne, I could barely see that there were steps at all. Lord Montaigne asked us to mark the spot where we were standing, because we would want to apparate back.

From behind me, McGonagall warned me sternly "be especially careful on these steep stone steps. There aren't lights on, there's no railing and I'm sure it's a long and painful fall if you slip." No warning necessary – I am not as careless about risks to my being as the adults around me seem to think.

Lord Montaigne led the way down, using a 'lumos' spell to light our way. It was a long way down, but fortunately there were fairly large landings, about eight feet wide by fifteen feet long and equipped with stone benches on either side, spaced at exactly every hundred steps. There was a large Peverell eye carved into the wall on the right side of each landing. Touching this eye with the ring produced a strong illumination from the rough-hewn rock ceiling nine feet above the floor of the landing. This first landing had an arch about four feet wide by a little over five feet tall, along the left wall. Lord Montaigne held his ring against the eye of the snake, which was carved into the wall. In a few seconds, the bronze door centered in the archway slid down. A few seconds later, lights came on beyond the arch, revealing a landing very similar to ours, with stone stairs rising from the far end. "This is the second entrance from Hogwarts", Lord Montaigne explained. This one enters the Slytherin common room, in back of the snake tapestry. That's why the rings also open the rear emergency exit from Slytherin". While Lord Montaigne was speaking, I used my hands to roughly measure the stairs as we paused at the first landing. The stairs were nine inches high and eighteen inches long, so at the first landing we had descended seventy-five feet and traveled a hundred and fifty feet toward the Hogsmeade side of the castle.

While I was measuring, Professor McGonagall was having other thoughts. "If I interpret all of this correctly, a student could use these stairs to travel from the Slytherin common room directly into my private office. Is that correct?"

"Theoretically, yes," Lord Montaigne admitted. "If Cissy were still in Slytherin, once her ring was activated, she would be able to do as you say. I understand that it is typical, however, for the door to the headmaster's office to be tuned to only admit the Keeper. Two of the early Keepers were headmasters of Hogwarts. One of my great-greats was the first non-founder headmaster of Hogwarts. That was at a time when the founders could not agree which of their number should fill that role for the next year and old great-great Montaigne was called upon to fill the breach. I believe Slytherin was due to rotate into the headmaster post, and the other founders lodged an objection."

At the next landing, there was again an arch to the left, bearing the symbol of a gryphon. I pointed to the arch and asked, "Where does this door lead".

"Nowhere, at present," was the reply. "This used to lead to the old stables, dating to the day when Gryffindor House was located above the stables. I believe that there was a brief period of some thirty years, during which a number of Gryffindor students became assistant Keepers. It was most unusual. Hermione will be the first assistant who was sorted into Gryffindor as a Muggle-born in about three centuries. Today, since the stables have been torn down and covered over with sod, this passage doesn't really go anywhere beyond the landing on the other side of the arch, from which you should be able to see the collapsed tunnel to the ruined foundation of the stables."

We continued down to four more landings. The final flight of stairs brought us to what can only be described as a stone room. It was the only 'landing' that was already lit when we arrived, so we could see the light as we descended into it. The stairs widened from their normal four feet to about eight feet across before we entered the room. The room itself was of finished olive marble on the walls and floor, with a magically lit chandelier towering about fifteen feet above our heads. The room was perhaps thirty feet long and twenty feet wide. Its distinguishing feature was a floor-to-ceiling, eight-foot wide arch centered on the opposite wall, as we entered. The arch was surrounded by protruding blocks of polished rose granite, inside of which was an embossed bronze door. As we walked to this door, we could see a line of statues along the side wall and stone benches with cushions against the wall surrounding the arch.

"I've never seen this room," Professor McGonagall commented as we walked toward the door. "To think, this is what is beneath my office."

"Actually," I corrected her, "we are now standing almost a quarter mile in the direction of Hogsmeade, from the point where we left your office, and we're nearly five hundred feet underground".

"I was speaking metaphorically, Ginny."

"This door leads to the antechamber to the Sacred Cavern of the Goblins. The rings of the assistants as well as the Keeper rings will open this door," Lord Montaigne instructed. "You place the ring against the eye of the Peverell icon, like this, holding it in place for several seconds. Then your remove the ring and wait."

As we waited, I noted that the door held the same symbols as the fireplace mantle, lying in a row in the same order. There were three new icons, however. Above the standard row was what looked like a raised head-on view of a Unicorn, with the horn sticking out an inch beyond the head, which was raised about an inch. A foot above that was a Centaur, shown side on, with an exaggerated eye looking straight out of the side of its head. Below the row was a Goblin head. As I was contemplating the figures, there was a deep rumble and the metal door dropped fairly rapidly into the stone floor. As the metal descended, I could see that it was about an inch thick. I must have been standing close to study the icons, because Lord Montaigne commanded "step back, Ginny, it wouldn't do to get caught by the door."

Beyond the open archway, we walked down wide alabaster stairs, which descended about twenty feet down, fanning out to fifteen feet across at the bottom and opening into a very well lit room fifty feet on a side and with a twenty foot ceiling. There were two large floor-to-ceiling rock pillars in the center of the room, roughly four feet square and spaced ten feet apart.

"This is as far as assistants are allowed to come, unless accompanying the Keeper on urgent business. If you had serious business to conduct, when the Keeper was unavailable, you would come to this reception room and summon assistance. Those stairs ahead of you are from the Hogsmeade entrance and the tunnel along the left wall is the end of the journey from Montaigne Castle. This was all built by the Goblins, back in the day when there were far more Goblins than there are today. The path from the castle is very similar to the rail system that they built for themselves under Gringotts bank. As we step further into the reception room, you may want to make a mental mark of the spot, should you ever need to apparate to the reception room. I find that with all the rock above us, apparation to this point is iffy. I've never heard of it being dangerous, it just often doesn't work. The result is you are unable to leave your disapparation point. Come over here to the wall on the right, and I'll show you what you are supposed to do with the rings."

In the center of the wall was a very large archway, twelve feet tall and eight feet in diameter. In the center of the shining silver door were a series of icons. There were four good-sized portraits on either side of the archway, but we honed in on the silver door. In the center was the eye of the snake, to its right was the Peverell eye, above it was a deep depression, about an inch around and three inches deep, to the left of the snake was a Goblin eye, and below the snake was the Centaur, with the outsized eye. "Five different icons", I must have spoken aloud.

"Actually six, Ginny, you missed the Elf down at your knees." Lord Montaigne helpfully corrected me. "This arch is extra size, because Centaurs and Unicorns may apparate into the reception room and enter from here. The path from Montaigne Castle also contains a branching that goes into the forest sanctuary. I believe you've been there, but were too focused on giant spiders to notice the archway, eh Harry. But I digress, what the Keeper or trainee Keeper with an activated ring must do is place the ring in the eye of the serpent, thusly, and then one waits. These are things that can't be learned at Hogwarts, eh Professor?"

He seemed pleased to be rewarded by a displeased look from McGonagall. About half a minute later, the silver door slid down into the floor. I could tell that it was four inches thick and that it seemed to be made of solid silver. Reading my mind, Lord Montaigne said "the door is a Goblin alloy, which is about 30% silver. Pure silver would not be strong enough. I'll have to ask the rest of you to wait here on the benches, while I show Cissy and Harry the cavern."

The archway led into darkness and a cool musty breeze flowed out from the archway. Lord Montaigne ushered Harry and Cissy through the archway and into the darkness. After they had traveled a few feet, the space beyond them began to brighten as the silver door began to rise. Before the door obscured my view, I had a brief glance of perhaps a ten foot long by eight foot diameter tunnel opening into a very large space. The far wall of that space appeared to be well over fifty feet away and I didn't have the proper angle to see the ceiling, although it must have been at least twenty feet above the surface of the cavern. The door snicked closed and I joined my companions in exploring the reception room.

I was looking to the right of the archway, where there was a rose granite panel looking incongruous amidst the polished alabaster covering the wall. This panel was about twenty feet to the right of the door, almost up against the side wall and centered at my eye level. I was about to call the others over to examine the icons, when Hermione called from the right of the arch, "come see the unusual icons that I've found". I abandoned my panel to join the others in examining the panel that Hermione had found. Her panel was about twenty feet to the left of the archway door and a little above my head. It contained a row of icons, with an Elf on the left, then a Goblin, then a Wizard, and then what looked like a starburst. In the center of each was an upward sloping hole, an inch in diameter and tapering to about a half inch at a depth of about four inches. "This panel could only be used by a Unicorn", Hermione said "so I don't understand the purpose of the icons for the other magical creatures. This starburst icon is also confusing. This is the first panel that hasn't had a snake and gryphon, also." We examined the panel for a few moments, but could learn nothing more, so I led the gang over to the panel, which I had discovered.

"This panel was clearly made to be used with a ring", Hermione observed "there are icons for a Wizard, a Goblin, a Centaur, a Unicorn, and Elf, and the starburst icon."

"Look," Ron exclaimed. "There's another panel farther down the wall". As we crouched down to study this panel, which had been at knee level, similar to the one above, but lacked the depressions for insertion of the crystal on a ring. Instead, the eye of each icon was a crystal. "It's like the one above," Ron reported "except there's no icon for an Elf."

"That's because this panel was made to be used by an Elf," Hermione explained to Ron.

"You should take a closer look at the portraits," Professor McGonagall suggested. I hadn't realized that she had even moved away from us to study the portraits.

Starting from where we were standing and moving toward the archway, the nearest portrait was of an Elf, but not one wearing the tawdry rags of the House Elves we were used to seeing. This Elf was wearing a rich purple velvet cloak, sealed at the throat with a large green stone. He carried a golden staff with a snake inscribed upon it. Around his neck was a silver horn. Beneath the portrait was a four inch high, foot long plate of solid gold, upon which was scribed "Cobbald, King of All the Elves."

The next portrait showed a fierce-looking Centaur, whose long curly hair, twirled mustache, and foot long beard were all a brilliant red, while his eyes in his round face were a brilliant piercing green and his body was a smooth, sleek, and reddish brown. His mouth was partially open, showing large, yellowish teeth. His right arm was raised, showing something very similar to a Keeper's ring, but with a greenish crystal, on his index finger. The plate beneath his portrait said "Firate, Leader of the Centaur Herd".

The next portrait showed a tall, slender Witch, who appeared to be about Professor McGonagall's age, dressed in formal robes of dark crimson. Her long hair was the color of silver wire and her eyes a fierce blue, behind octagonal granny spectacles of small thick lenses. She wore a gold diadem on her head and a Keeper's ring on her right middle finger. The plate beneath the portrait read "Madam Ravenclaw, Headmistress of Hogwarts".

The portrait nearest to the archway was of a Goblin. He could only be described as proudly, unabashedly fat, with an over-round face, pronounced jowls and bandy legs. He had long red hair down below his shoulders and a foot-long flame of beard. A wide, stubby nose protruded above the mustache and the eyes were red. His right hand was raised, showing a silver ring on his middle finger, with a red crystal set in gold wires. The plate beneath the portrait read "Hyndus Gobain, Prince-elect of the tribe of Goblin".

The first portrait to the left of the archway was a head-on shot of a Unicorn, with the head and horn thrust proudly upward. The head and body were a rich creamy white and the eyes were deep brown. The horn was decorated with several wraps of bright green lace. The plate beneath read "His Highness Inna Goga of the Hogsmeade Unicorns".

To the left of the Unicorn was a Giant, who was all dark brown hair with a strategically wrapped skin of what appeared to be a large stag. The hair and beard were matted and dark brown eyes were close-set beneath a scraggly up-twisting unibrow. His right hand was raised, but held only a club. The plate beneath read "Morog of the Giant clan, honorary signatory".

To the left of Morag was a sprightly Leprechaun, dressed in flowing green robes and a peaked green hat. His neck was concealed by a green silk scarf, held together by a gold stick pin topped by what looked like a large emerald. His robes were gathered at the waist by a wide, at least for a Leprechaun's proportions, leather belt, with a silver buckle shaped like a shamrock. He had a shock of red hair showing beneath his hat and crystal clear green eyes, with no eyebrows, above a pointy nose. The plate beneath read "Trillig, Chief Prankster". Beneath the gold plate was a six-inch square rose granite plate, with a carved crystal lining the base of a carved depression in the shape of a shamrock. "I guess we know what activates this particular crystal", Ron commented, totally unnecessarily.

The last picture was a clean-shaven Wizard with long red hair down to his waist. He had a long forehead, above which perched a small crown of very thin gold, with a strange-looking double peak in front. This Wizard was depicted with a prominent nose, a nice smile, and very pretty green eyes. He wore green robes, fastened with an emerald button. His was the only portrait, apart from Morog, in which the subject was armed. He had a sword slung from a leather waist belt, with the sheath strapped to his lower thigh. In his left hand he held a wand, which was pointed straight at the viewer, while the right hand was raised to show a ring on the index finger. The large clear crystal was secured to the silver ring by a delicate lattice of silver wires. I was shocked when I read the gold plate's inscription "King Seamus Weasley of the Small-Island Wizards". I screeched "Ron, get over here!" He looked guilty, as if I had caught him out patting Hermione's bottom, which in fact I had. He looked very apologetic as he walked over to my side saying "yes, Mom." I just pointed to the plate. Ron stood frozen in amazement.

I moved ahead of him to join Professor McGonagall, who was exploring the wall from which the Hogsmeade stairs emerged. There were two portraits on each side of the stairs. The nearest showed a strapping Wizard with a sword and wand. He wore black robes, joined with a large clear crystal used as a button. He had long brown hair and a beard over a foot long. His eyes were blue, beneath scant eyebrows. The nose was full. Like King Weasley, he was depicted with a wand in his left hand raised enough to direct the wand straight at the viewer and his right hand raised to show a silver ring with a gold fleur-de-lis pattern on its flat face. There was no crystal showing on the ring. The plate said "Gunter Gran Montine, Conqueror of Europe and Sovereign, honorary signatory". I called Ron over to get a look at this portrait. He immediately commented, "The Montaignes stole our ring".

The portrait immediately next to the stairs was another Wizard, also posed in what I now recognized as the depiction of a warrior. He seemed tall and fit, with blond hair a long grey beard and dull blue eyes above a flattened nose that looked like a combat casualty. This sense was seconded by a large scar running from the corner of his right eye and disappearing into his beard. His robes were scarlet, the clasp was silver, with a golden stone, and he was wearing long leather boots. The sword was the familiar-to-us Sword of Gryffindor, so I was not surprised that the plate read "Godric Gryffindor, Friend of the Displaced Wizards."

To the left of the stairway were fairly impressive portraits of Hufflepuff and Peverell. Hufflepuff wore simple and obviously well-worn black robes, secured by what appeared to be an iron clasp. Madam Hufflepuff had brown hair that was beginning to gray, sparse brown eyebrows above clear blue eyes, and a warm smile showing very imperfect teeth. She was portrayed with a mason's trowel in her right hand and a wand protruding from where it was tucked into the waist of her robes, where her ample belly jutted them out. The gold plate beneath the portrait read "Hilda Hufflepuff, whose determination and tireless labors enabled this endeavor".

Peverell was shown wearing a black robe, hanging open in the front, with a cloak draped over his left shoulder, a black pointy Wizard's hat, that drooped instead of peaking, upon his head, knee high black boots. His right hand hung straight down at his side and was clutching what looked like the Elder Wand. His right hand was held up to reveal the ring on his right ring finger. It looked like the Peverell ring that bore the Resurrection Stone, but which had killed Dumbledore. About two-thirds of the way from the tip of his hat was what we recognized as the Peverell Eye. Other than the eye, the hat looked remarkably like the Sorting Hat. The plate bore the legend "Igor Peverell, Discoverer of the Cavern and Assistant Builder, Honorary Signatory".

We saw that from a distance, we had missed the smaller, and last, picture on this side of the stairs. It showed a very dark Wizard, with jet black hair and beard, dark brown eyes shielded by heavy dark lashes and a thick black unibrow, a pointy nose and a facial expression best described as a barely restrained snarl. He wore green robes, held together by a stick pin shaped like a snake, with a ruby red eye. There was a snake with its lower half curled about his neck, and his upper half poised to strike, mouth wide open, out of the portrait. He had a wand in his right hand, which hung at his side, ringless. It was a remarkably detailed portrait, given that it was only about a foot tall by nine inches wide. Below the portrait was a brass plate, longer than the portrait was wide. It read "Slytherin, refused to sign".

Since Harry had yet to return, we turned our attention to the wall that disgorged the passage from Montaigne Castle. There was a foot-square rose granite panel on the wall to the right of the stairs. It bore a single icon that looked like a drawing of a wagon in fine silver wire upon a two-inch square clear flat piece of crystal. At the top of the granite was a single 1-inch diameter upper sloping conical hole. We looked down at our knees, but there was no corresponding Elf panel. "I think we can assume that the purpose of this panel is to summon the conveyance to Montaigne Castle," Professor McGonagall commented, also unnecessarily to my thinking. That section of wall bore no additional decoration so we moved to the left of the stairs, where there were three portraits.

The one nearest the stairs was instantly recognizable as Dumbledore and matched the portrait that now appeared in Professor McGonagall's office, except that Fawkes was perched on his right shoulder. The silver plate beneath the portrait read "Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Captain of the Resistance, Order of the Phoenix".

The middle portrait was a picture of a familiar looking house Elf, wearing a rag around his waist and a single sock. He looked straight out at us with sad, dark, liquid eyes. The silver plate beneath the portrait read "Dobby, A Free Elf and Savior of the Resistance". Centered above Dobby's portrait was a larger silver plate, which read "Fallen Heroes of the Resistance".

The portrait on the left was of a Centaur. He was facing the viewer with an arrow ready to be fired out of the portrait from a taut bow string. The plate read "Baloch, Who Died Leading the Charge".

We moved to the wall that held the stairs that had brought us down from the Hogwarts passage. To the right of the stairs were four portraits, with a large silver plate across the top. The two portraits on the right were instantly recognizable as Harry's parents. His mother was named as Lily Evans. The top plate read "Fallen Heroes of the Voldemort War".

The next portrait moving left was of a fierce Goblin who was brandishing a scimitar nearly as long as himself. The plate beneath it read "Ashkaz the Goblin, Who Successfully Defended the Sacred Cavern".

The last portrait showed a Giant brandishing a club. The plate read "Insulum, Largest of the Giants, Defender of Durmstrang Cavern". These last two portraits celebrated a history which was alien to all of us.

After a few moments of shared puzzlement, we moved to the left of the stairs. Here there were only three portraits. The plate on top read "Fallen Heroes of the Grindelwald War". The right-most portrait was of a teenaged Witch, whom we did not recognize. She wore a simple frock, rather than robes, and was depicted lying dead on a stone floor. Even in death, her face was very attractive. The plate identified her as Dumbledore's sister, with the attribution "She Challenged Grindelwald and Murdering Her Drove Him from Britain". This was at odds with the story as told by Dumbledore.

The middle portrait was of another Giant bearing a club and adorned only with a loincloth of snow leopard. The plate read "Igor the Giant, Killed Grindelwald Aides Lorentz and Spassky". The leftmost portrait was of a house Elf, wearing just a rag. The plate read "Ignatz the Elf, Apparated Dumbledore to Meet Grindelwald." This clearly was another story that Dumbledore had preferred to leave untold.

I scanned the rest of the reception hall. There were some alabaster benches and two long alabaster tables near the center of the room. Then I saw that the stone pillars had hidden two statues from our view as we had initially entered the hall. They would have dominated the view of anybody entering from the Hogsmeade stairs. I approached them from the Hogsmeade side. The rightmost statue showed a Unicorn. A plaque at its feet said that this bronze sculpture was crafted by the Goblin King Gobinee in 1899. It noted that the Unicorn Pip had foretold the coming of two Dark Lords in the next century, one pureblood and the other a half-blood, for whom all magical creatures must prepare and beware.

The second statue was a carved alabaster rendering of a Centaur. The plaque at the Centaur's raised front feet indicated that the rendering was by the Goblin King Gobelett in 1589 and depicted the Centaur seer Kopay, who foretold that in the next generation, all magical creatures must go into hiding from the Destroyer of Magic. I had no idea what this meant and was rolling the possible meanings around in my brain, when Hermione called me over to the tables. There were two stone tables, with an alabaster bench in front of each.

"There are prophecies inscribed on the tops of the tables," Hermione told me. "The one on that table is the old prophesy involving Harry and Voldemort, but the one on this table is a new one, involving Lord Montaigne, and I think, us. I didn't bring paper or pen for this trip, so we'll have to memorize it".

"Accio paper, accio quill, accio ink," I said, handing the writing implements to a sheepish Hermione. I read out the prophecy, paying especial attention to punctuation and spelling, as Hermione copied it down:

_The double-cheated double crown rests uneasy and unhealthily on Montaignes' head_

_With cheating even among Montaignes, the time for the crown to be removed is nigh_

_The death of the Lord of Darkness has started the ticking of the celestial clock_

_Four possible conclusions, only, are foretold, each leading to its own path, they being:_

_The crown may be returned to the line which over-generously let it be stolen,_

_The last of the Montaignes can die a glorious death in battle,_

_Montaignes may be slain in justified revolt and the bloody crown reclaimed, or_

_The Age of Magic shall dwindle and die and magical creatures never more be seen._

_After the last of name Montaigne enters the Sacred Chamber for the final time_

_Then can the second golden age of magical creatures have its start_

_As the Mother of the Future leads the magical creatures in equality_

Hermione read the text back to me and I confirmed to her that she had gotten it down correctly. We went over to a side bench to ponder the prophecy, handing Hermione's scribbled copy to Ron and Professor McGonagall to read. As we were silently noodling over the lines, Professor McGonagall decided, "I'm not going to reveal this prophecy to Trew. I want to see if she comes up with it and how long it takes her. I wonder how long it has been scribed on that table. Given the magical quality of this place, it is possible that the prophecy changes to match each magical creature who enters either this room, or the Sacred Cavern. I think it safe to assume that this is the third prophecy that Lord Montaigne mentioned, and that this is the one that has caused the change in his behavior to include the four of you in the mysteries of the Keeper. For now, I don't think we should reveal this message to anyone. Perhaps to Minister Weasley and Percy, if Harry thinks he can be trusted with a secret. He was among my most brilliant students, but he could not avoid strutting and showing off, and knowing the secret would give him something to strut about."

"I disagree about the first part of that," I challenged McGonagall. "I don't think this is the third prophecy about us. This is a Montaigne prophecy. I think we'll find that our third prophecy is something different."

"You're forgetting, Miss Weasley, that Harry is a Montaigne and that the Mother of the Future is mentioned in the final line," Professor McGonagall corrected me. I had to reply, "I concede that point, but I believe Lord Montaigne was referring to a third prophecy, which involved more of us than just Harry and me. You really had to be there to get the full flavor of how he said it and who he seemed to be looking at, as well as just the specific words he said."

"I think you may be assigning too much specificity to Lord Montaigne's speech," Professor McGonagall replied. "I've never viewed the man as having a very precise mind."

We heard the familiar rumble of a metal arch door retracting into the stone floor. Looking up, we saw Harry, Cissy, and Lord Montaigne exit the tunnel from the Sacred Cavern. I was surprised to see that they were accompanied by the Goblin King. We got up to meet them halfway. Harry was smiling, so I knew that all had gone well. I couldn't help giving him a hug, before I greeted him.

The Goblin King politely greeted Ron and Professor McGonagall, before greeting me. "It pleasures me to once again gaze upon the fierce warrior who loves to eat. I may not reveal all of the mysteries of the Sacred Cavern to any Wizard but a Keeper, but I would be proud to show those whom I believe to be the Mother of the Future and her Muse".

I told him that this was wonderful and that Hermione and I would be delighted to view the Sacred Cavern.

He led Hermione and me toward and through the tunnel into the Sacred Cavern, continuing to speak as we walked. "Usually only males may enter the Sacred Cavern. No female Goblin has ever entered. Only sacred females blessed by the prophecy of the Master may pass beyond this tunnel. You may describe what you see and what I tell you to the McGonagall. She is almost sacred. You may also tell the McGonagall that she must demand the ring which is rightfully hers, under the original Covenant. You may tell the Trew. You will know when it is time. Until more obstacles are cleared to the path of the Second Golden Age, what you see must be a secret. You should know that there remain sacred Witches who still practice the ancient wisdoms, and that they are permitted to visit our Sacred Cavern. I admitted the Cissy, because I had no choice but to do so, but fear it will be counted a crime against the Master. Come, I will show you the stone seats reserved for you, but you may not sit in them until it is written in the celestial sky."

So, I may not yet reveal what we saw or the other things that we were told, other than to say that it was awesome.

The rest of the excursion was anticlimactic and very tiring. We walked the stairs, tunnel, and still more stairs to the Hogsmeade entrance. Lord Montaigne said it was important that we knew the path and how to operate the portal from either side. At least there were benches on the landings to provide a rest from all the climbing. I did fine, but I feared for Professor McGonagall. There was a side-branching archway at what proved to be the last landing. Lord Montaigne said that this meant there were two entry points from Hogsmeade. Our straight path brought us to a three foot by five foot tall archway at a small four foot by five foot landing at the summit of the final set of stone steps. In the center of the door was a raised figure of a stag, with a convex clear crystal implanted between its antlers. There was a small rose granite panel to the right of the arch, bearing only the symbols of the snake and the gryphon. Lord Montaigne placed his ring against the snake's eye and in a few seconds the metal door slid to the side, allowing us to pass. We found ourselves in the corner of a dark, slightly musty basement of a very quiet building. We said 'lumos' almost simultaneously and were able to explore our surroundings by the light of seven wands.

"It's a vacant shop," reported Lord Montaigne. "In fact, I decided to lease this particular shop to your brother, precisely because it shelters this entrance. As the portal slid shut, I noticed that from the shop side its surface was unfinished stone. The basement floor was hard packed clay. "You can pile some crates or something to shield the entrance, although there is a peephole to let you check the basement before opening the door", Lord Montaigne suggested. "If you have the stair side in darkness, you can look at the crystal in the stag's head to tell if there is light in the basement. You can grab the stag's antlers and unscrew it counter-clockwise to create the peephole."

We walked across the basement and were climbing the stairs into the storefront, when we heard noise above us. Lord Montaigne opened the door from the basement and led us onto the first level, just as George was entering the room, carrying a large box of merchandise. "You startled me," George exclaimed, almost dropping the box on his feet.

"Sorry," Harry replied, "Lord Montaigne insisted upon showing us around our new shop."

"Fine by me," George replied, "and here's your key, Harry. I wish you had told me you were planning to visit, you each could have taken a box."

The Montaignes headed back for the castle, and the rest of us explored the first and second floors of the shop before returning to Hogwarts. George exclaimed that the second floor would make an excellent apartment. There was plenty of space and, since George's shop was at the end of a row, all three of the rooms, except the center room, had large windows on two walls. I was very impressed by the nearly ten foot high ceilings which, along with all the windows and the generous size of the rooms, gave the apartment a very airy feeling. "Look what I found," George shouted, leading us to a small closet in the middle room. "Let's see where this ladder leads," he called over his shoulder, as he began to climb. We followed George up the steep, metal-runged ladder and found ourselves standing in a partially finished attic. It was clearly intended for storage, although you would have to raise and lower whatever was being stored by rope. A metal pulley wheel, suspended from the ceiling, confirmed my suspicion. "Look, there's a door," George called to us from farther back in the attic. When I had walked to my brother's side, I could tell that the door disgorged onto a small, railed balcony.

It took both of my brothers working together for several minutes to get the slide lock on the door to budge and then straining against the door for close to a minute to pull it inward. George carefully tested the balcony, before placing his weight upon it. It was apparently solid enough, as was the metal railing, which George tried to shake and then foolishly leaned against.

After Ron had replaced George on the balcony, I had a chance to step out upon the four foot by five foot space. The space may not have been impressive, but the view certainly was. I could see Hogwarts in the distance and surveil the path to Hogsmeade. I had a great view of the over-grown park across the street and the partial row of houses. Leaning over the balcony gave a view of all the storefronts on our side of Hogsmeade's main road. I had seen enough and suggested that we apparate back to Hogwarts.


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter Forty-Three – Dumbledore's File Cabinets**

I asked if we could meet with Professor McGonagall in her office. Harry said, "I think we should try to open Dumbledore's locked cabinets. They may well contain information that we need in order to keep moving forward. I wish my ring was fully activated so that I could test that on the lock. The only thing that I have to try is the golden snitch that he left to me in his will. I'll go fetch it. Ron can come with me and retrieve his deluminator, as well."

While Harry was away, I told Professor McGonagall what I saw in the Sacred Cavern and what the Goblin King had said. She said she most certainly would ask Lord Montaigne for her ring, even if she wasn't feeling like a nearly sacred female.

"Speaking of sacred Witches, I think the four of you should visit with some of the remaining sacred Witches to learn their view on the world and on your prophecies. There are some Witch priestesses who worship the Light Guardian and others who practice the prior Wizard pan-theist nature religion. I know of a number of priestesses in Ireland, which should be a future field trip for you. I advise nosing around the site of the old Weasley castle. If you can find that, there likely is another center of magic and a crystal circle inside a sacred cavern. The priestesses may know how you can find it. Closer to home, I know of a Light Guardian priestess on the Isle of Skye and a nature-worshipping Druidic priestess in Northumberland. I've kept in touch with both of them and can apparate you to their dwellings. Promise me you'll look them up next week."

Just as Hermione and I finished promising, Harry was returning with Ron. We went into Dumbledore's inner office and Harry tried the golden snitch on what appeared to be the locking mechanisms of storage boxes that had the look of solid metal rectangles, four feet by two feet by five feet tall. Not only did they look like solid metal, they could have been as heavy. The four of us straining against a box were unable to slide it even an inch. They also defeated our combined efforts to lift, move, open, or transform them using all the magical methods that Professor McGonagall could think of. The snitch didn't open them, even when Harry whispered "I open in the end". Ron flicked the deluminator several times, with the only effect being to douse and reignite the light in the little room. "I'll try my ring, once it's activated, and that should be soon," Harry said. Lord Montaigne got the Goblin King's blessing and did his part of the activation on Cissy's and my rings. I'll have Arthur do his part tomorrow morning and we can try to find a unicorn in the afternoon."

"We should also try to find the Resurrection Stone, since that is what Peverell was wearing in his portrait," Hermione suggested. "It might even open Dumbledore's cabinets. The golden snitch was really just the wrapping to smuggle the stone, which was his real gift to Harry, past Scrimgouer. If Gabrielle could bring us the Flamel device, we could find the stone a lot faster. I'll make a cell phone call to Beauxbatons before dinner. I was struck by how little respect the Goblin King has for the two Montaignes. He views the father as a usurper."

That got me to thinking, especially having seen the portraits. The only portrait of a Montaigne was of Gunter Gran Montine and he was listed as an honorary signatory, so he wasn't the Wizard with whom the original Covenant was agreed. From the placement of the portraits, either Ron's ancient great-great King Weasley or Headmistress Ravenclaw or both were the Wizards who agreed the covenant. Lord Montaigne, who obviously has seen the third prophecy, is obsessing on his father cheating his older brother of the Lordship and Keepership and favoring him as the greatest of the cheats referred to in the prophecy.

After pondering that, I told the others "I think it far more likely that the prophecy refers to cheating the Weasleys and the Hogwarts headmasters of their rightful roles. It's a subject that bears further discussion with the Goblin King. The King cannot appreciate that Lord Montaigne almost glories in his minimal magical education and abilities and his refusal to push Cissy's magical education as far as he can. We've been working with Cissy, along with my Mom and Mr. Filch, and she certainly started with well below average magical skills for a Witch who has finished her second year. She is rapidly catching up, so I think she has the ability. Her father has her focused elsewhere, upon his business affairs."

Harry returned from the Ministry right before lunch on the morrow, saying he had to get back to the Ministry. Dad had done his bit to activate Harry's ring, so after eating, we set off for the forest sanctuary in search of a Unicorn. When we reached the forest, Harry kept shouting that he begged permission to enter. We entered about a hundred and fifty feet and waited in a small clearing. About a half hour later, Bane trotted up and asked the reason for the intrusion. When Harry explained his need for Unicorn tears, Bane showed Harry his own ring, as if they were now brothers in a secret society. We followed Bane in single file for about a quarter mile to a little break in the forest, in which four Unicorns were enjoying the sunbeams and grazing on the grass, ferns, and moss. Bane trotted over to the senior of the Unicorns and they seemed to be having a discussion. Bane led the Unicorn back and asked Harry to show his ring to the Unicorn. Harry held out his hand and the Unicorn nipped the tip of Harry's fingers between its front teeth. A minute later, tears flowed from the Unicorn's eye and wet the surface of Harry's ring. The ring immediately began to glow, with a pulsing white light persisting for close to a minute, before fading. Harry explained that the three of us had assistant rings and that he could do the Keeper part of the activation now, if the Unicorn was willing to shed a tear for their rings as well, provided it was permissible to have the Unicorn do its part of the activation before the Minister did?

"Permissible? It's highly preferable, in best keeping with protocol under the Covenant," Bane replied. "You did right, Harry in asking my permission to enter the forest and having me request the Unicorns' approval. You probably observed that Lord Montaigne did not activate your ring without the approval of the Goblin King. Likewise, no Unicorn would activate your ring without the blessing of the Centaur leader or Seer. Montaigne should have explained that to you, but he is arrogant and not well-versed in the traditions of magic. I don't blame you for his error. The job of Keeper is too much for him. Before you activate the rings of your assistants, I must ask you if the Goblin King gave any hint of his approval".

"He told Ginny and Hermione that they were sacred females and invited them into the Sacred Cavern," Harry replied. "He didn't say anything to me about Ron."

"Then we can do our part to activate Ginny's and Hermione's rings. You will have to take Ron with you to visit the Goblin King and beseech his permission. Since Ron is descended from the Wizard King, approval will likely be granted, unless the Goblin King insists on the eldest Weasley boy as your assistant. That is unlikely: the wishes of the Keeper are given great deference, unless there is strong reason for objection."

Harry activated Hermione's ring and mine. Bane nodded his approval as we presented our hands to the Unicorn. We were each blessed with Unicorn tears. "Thank you," Harry said to Bane and to the Unicorn.

"You are welcome, Harry Potter," Bane replied. You, Ginny, and Hermione may henceforth enter the forest, without seeking approval. Ron may also enter if he is with you."

"I have one other favor to ask," Harry began, before explaining about the Resurrection Stone, which he had dropped in the forest, and the possibility that it was needed to unlock Dumbledore's storage cabinets. Harry explained that he had intended to leave the stone lost in the forest, as a safeguard against its misuse, but was now both in need of it and in fear that a future student would find and misuse it.

"You are welcome to search for the stone," Bane replied. "Since it belonged to Peverell, you might need it once you get into the Sacred Cavern. It might also work some of the entrance portals. After you are finished with it, we can safely hide it in the forest. We will always be able to retrieve it for you or a future Keeper."

"Thank you again," Harry concluded. "We'll be back in a few days. I basically need to retrace my steps to the spot where Voldemort killed me."

"If I may ask you a question," I importuned Bane, "Lord Montaigne mentioned a third prophecy, which he said involved our group. We haven't heard the details of this prophecy and I was hoping that you were familiar with it. We saw a third prophecy engraved on a stone table in the Reception Hall, but that seemed to apply primarily to the Montaignes."

"Yes, that prophecy has certainly upset his Lordship. It is one thing to know that you have an illegitimate hold on the Keepership and quite another to see that knowledge engraved in stone for any passersby to see. I've been hoping that the engraving would encourage Montaigne to resign his post. I do recall mention of a third prophecy, but I don't know the details. Please wait here, while I fetch Firenze. If anyone knows the exact prophecy, it will be Firenze."

As we waited for Firenze, Ron chided me, "I'm not sure that we needed to bring Bane into this. If you had a little patience, we could have just talked to Professor Firenze after class and reduced the number of Centaurs who know our business."

"I don't think it's really an issue," Harry took my side. "Bane and Firenze seem to be getting along much better. Something in their relationship has changed. I'm sure Firenze has already told Bane of the prophecy, and Bane either wanted to make sure that it was conveyed to us letter perfect or to give Firenze a chance to show off."

Bane returned with Firenze and did, indeed, have the look of a proud papa as he stood to the side, watching Firenze convey the prophecy to us.

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to reveal this prophecy to you this early," Firenze began, "but since you've already heard about it, I want to make certain that you know the true prophecy and don't waste time and worry on incorrect fragments or miswordings that you might pick up from Professor, um, from somebody like Lord Montaigne. I know Hermione always has pen and paper at hand, so I'll recite the prophecy slowly, so that she can get it down correctly.

When the most brilliant light pierces the dark

To herald the dawn of a golden age

The underground mountain shall reveal its secrets

And the Slayers of the dark

And the Mothers of the Future

Shall sit at the center of the universe

And forge a perfect Concord

Amongst all the creatures who think

"I just knew that the prophecy carved on the table in the Reception Hall wasn't the third prophecy that related to us. This one is about us. The other was about the Montaignes, although admittedly it does affect us and our future actions, so I guess McGonagall was half right."

"The two of you really have a competition going on," Harry remarked.

I decided it was best to change topics quickly and quizzed Professor Firenze. "This prophecy seems to have a number of future triggers, so it's hard to say how far in the future it is. Do you have any thoughts to share with us about what it actually means? Where is the seat in the center of the universe?"

"I didn't rush to share the prophecy with you because it is some time in the future, as you surmise, and I think you should take the time to learn more background and spend some time coming up with your own interpretations of its meaning. If it were totally clear and unambiguous, whether because it was written as two detailed pages of script or because I offer a semi-official translation of the text, then it wouldn't be your prophecy, and wouldn't have the normal powers of a prophecy. You must make of it what you will and let it guide you as you deem appropriate.

"I'm willing to offer some thoughts at the appropriate time, but this isn't the appropriate time. You were correct to inquire of me regarding any significant prophecies which might involve you, and I have answered that question. I will also tell you that I am unaware of any other prophecies that deal with your group, even tangentially. You now know all from the perspective of personal prophecy. If I learn of other prophecies that involve you, I will let you know. I will see you in class, as always. Be aware and alert; the fates are moving very rapidly."

Firenze turned to leave and Bane led him back into the depths of the forest.

"I don't understand the part about the light and the dark, but that may be metaphorical," Hermione surmised. "We've got our old friend the underground mountain, again, and that could be the Sacred Cavern, but although that is far underground, it isn't really part of or inside a mountain. The ground above is flat. The last part strikes me as a new and expanded version of the Covenant. We should all think about the contents of the prophecy. I'll make a copy for each of us."

We left the forest and briefly returned to the Ministry with Harry, so that Hermione and I could finish the activation of our rings. When I touched my ring to the seal in Dad's office, it glowed brightly for about half a minute and I felt a pleasant warmth creep up my arm, starting from my ring finger, and then spreading up and down my torso. I must have looked like I was in something like a trance, because as the glow and the warmth faded, I refocused my eyes to observe Dad staring at me, with a concerned look on his face.

"I wasn't at all sure that this Keeper thing was a good idea for Harry and I fear, Genevra, that being an Assistant Keeper may not be in your best interest - particularly if it involves you more deeply with Lord Montaigne. I know this seems like an exciting glimpse into a new area of knowledge and perhaps power, to both you and Harry, but to me, as your father and the Minister of Magic, it just seems like you are being used by the Montaignes as further pressure to obtain impossibly lenient treatment for Bruce. There is more than a whiff of threat and blackmail about the good Lord's actions and I advise you to be very wary of the man. He is far more urbane than Voldemort and can put on the kind and magnanimous act, but I fear he may be every bit as dangerous as Voldemort. I realize that Bruce has mental difficulties, but I don't think he came to his present state entirely by accident. His father also pushed him in that direction. Please listen to your old Dad and be careful around all the Montaignes. I know you think I'm obsessed seeing hidden evil in young Cissy, but it never hurts to exercise a little caution amidst your liking of a new friend. You would be performing a valuable service if you somewhat tempered Harry's and Hermione's enthusiasm over Cissy and let her prove herself before fully trusting her."

I promised Dad that I would stay on my guard, but that taking a wary view of another Witch would not carry a lot of weight with Harry, who already saw me as overly competitive with McGonagall. I reminded Dad, "Harry basically distrusts everyone and imagines plots within plots and constant threats. He's so constantly on guard that it's like he's my personal auror."

"That's part of what bothers me, Ginevra. Cissy seems to have snuck through Harry's normal defenses. I think all of you trust non-Slytherin students too automatically. Remember, she originally was Slytherin."

"I won't forget Dad, but I'm still going to give her a chance. Remember, Harry is a Montaigne and he is a good person. I know she was a Slytherin, but she recognized her error. I'll readily admit that I perhaps have an unduly favorable opinion of her, knowing how much Pansy Parkinson detests her. Perhaps we all do."

"Harry wasn't raised by a Montaigne father. He is not a spoiled child of privilege. Which reminds me, and please don't think your old Dad has turned into a hopelessly cranky worrier, but with Harry's inheritances, and position as Deputy Minister and the Goblin King thinking you're the Mother of the Future, I fear that you and Harry may unwittingly raise your children as children of privilege. Please don't forget the childhoods which made you and Harry the good people you are."

I was a little taken aback, both at Dad's fear that I would morph into some wealthy aristocratic wife and mother, and Dad's first vocalization that he assumed that Harry and I would end up married."

It took several days for us to get to see the Goblin King so he could vet Ron. The King said he was happy to see us again, but that Harry should have realized that he approved of Ron becoming an assistant. He apologized for the confusion, saying he understood how not showing Ron or Professor McGonagall the Sacred Cavern might have appeared to be a slight, since no explanation for the exclusion was given. Assistant candidates, as a rule, are not invited into the Cavern; Hermione and I were invited because of the prophecies. I asked him where the prophecies came from and how old they were. He replied that the Harry/Voldemort prophesy was twenty years old, but retained on the table because of its significance. The two prophecies which Trelawney revealed to us appeared very briefly on the table, within hours of the death of Voldemort, and the third one, which we had read on the table top, appeared a week later. That doesn't mean the prophecy was new at that point, just that this is the first time that it was displayed in the Reception Hall. They were kept in place for about two weeks. All prophecies of any significance that he was aware of originated with the Centaurs or Unicorns. If Trelawney knew about some of them, then clearly some Centaur or Unicorn had a leaky mind and Trelawney was keenly attuned to it. As to why a prophecy that was so damning of Lord Montaigne would be displayed in the Reception Hall, the King said that Montaigne had no choice in the matter. The Unicorns decided which prophecies should be displayed and for how long. The Goblins provided the art work upon request.

The King fed us well and left me with the message to carry back to Dad: "Montaigne is dead set against loaning money to Wizards. He says it would be very disruptive to Wizard life and he sees no way to safely do it by halves". I reminded him that Lord Montaigne was but one of the five votes and inquired why he would allow the obduracy of one man, whom he obviously had little respect for, to block progress.

The King frowned as he told me, "I hate to provoke the controversy that would follow. I have to interact with Montaigne and he won't be reasonable if he's outvoted. You don't realize how awful the man can be."

With our rings activated, we made another attempt to open Dumbledore's locks. The second attempt was no more successful than the first. Hermione's Dad suggested we allow him to take the power tool brute force method, but Professor McGonagall feared the cabinets had magical safeguards which would destroy their contents if such a physical assault were attempted.

Professor McGonagall seemed very pleased when I suggested, "perhaps we should all take a break from fighting these cabinets and visit Professor McGonagall's sacred Witch friends. The traditional nature priestess is closest to here, so perhaps we should see her first."

Everyone seemed eager for a change of pace and agreed immediately. Professor McGonagall happily promised, "Trew and I will arrange the trip for the morrow. Harry should plan to be at Hogwarts for the day, because I don't know what time will best suit my friend."

It turned out that early morning best suited her friend, so immediately after we set down our breakfast spoons, Professor McGonagall ushered us out of the castle and led us to the apparation pocket near the gate. Neville, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, George, and, inexplicably, Draco and Pansy were to make the trip with us. It was a larger delegation than I had expected or was comfortable with, but perhaps McGonagall had felt a desire to introduce half of the school to her friend. We all joined hands in a fairly tight circle, and then we were gone. Almost immediately, we were standing beside a kitchen garden in a small forest clearing, with a thatched hut in front of us.

I don't pretend to understand the fundamentals of apparation, but would swear that we traveled faster with McGonagall than we generally did on our own. Perhaps she was simply smoother and less quease-making in her apparation technique. Perhaps multiple trips over the same path eased the journey.


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter Forty-Four - Victoria**

A very ancient looking old crone, humped over and with long, straggly grey hair, emerged from the hut to greet us. I was expecting her to have a very esoteric name to match her appearance, but Professor McGonagall quickly introduced us to her and I learned that her name was Victoria and that she was named Victoria, because she was born in the year of Queen Victoria's coronation. I knew that this particular coronation was far in the past, but Hermione supplied the information that "Queen Victoria was crowned in 1837." Professor McGonagall finished the introductions, informing us that Victoria was Victoria Malfoy and that she was Draco's great-great-great aunt. That at least explained the presence of Draco and Pansy on this particular field trip.

"So, as you can see," Professor McGonagall concluded, "it is not strictly correct that I am the last of the Victorians, although I do try to uphold the tradition."

"Excuse me if I'm being rude," Luna gave an advance apology, "but you are a very old Witch. How have you managed such longevity?"

"I am very familiar with all of the healing plants and I grow most of them, right here in my garden. I commune with nature and keep my spirit in tune with the Earth. Magical power is a great tool for enforcing the mind's control over the body. I still get the daily exercise of growing my own herbs and vegetables, gathering my own firewood, weaving much of what I wear, and maintaining my little cottage. I don't eat any meat, unless you count fish which I catch myself from the stream half a mile down that path. I've not allowed the vexation of any Wizard to enter my life. I work, I study, I practice my magic and prophesy, and when the opportunity arises, I try to teach younger Witches, as I did your Professor McGonagall, many years ago."

"Professor McGonagall says that you are a follower of the ancient nature-based Wizard religion, rather than the Light Guardian," Hermione prompted Victoria onto the topic, which was the purpose of our expedition.

"Yes, the sources of my religion predate the Druids, going back to the original, primitive activity at Stonehenge, over five millennia ago. It was partly a very practical religion, based on studying and interpreting nature. It included some of the first astronomical studies for forecasting planting times and later for celestial prophecy, the identification of plants that were of value in healing, channeling the forces of nature to increase fertility and life, and rituals for binding a new people together. It provided a basis for understanding, enjoying, and living within the natural world.

"I know that modern Wizards, such as yourselves, avoid most of the technical advances of those, whom you call Muggles. I ignore even more of these advances, living in much the manner of my predecessors two millennia ago. One of the advances that I avoid is the wand. I can perform magic perfectly well without a wand, and so can you. In answer to your original question, no, the traditional religion isn't at all in opposition to the Light Guardian; I view the two approaches as wholly complementary. The Light Guardian has communicated directly to exceedingly few magical creatures, but a few of them have been the traditional Priestesses, perhaps once a millennium. Followers of the Light Guardian have continued the astronomical studies and celestial prophesy of the ancients, and of course we are all grounded in an affinity with nature, which allows us to capture the magical powers of the Earth."

"So, you and I are related," Draco remarked with a bit of puzzlement. "My Dad never mentioned a Great Aunt Victoria."

"That's not at all surprising. Even in my younger days, the rest of the family viewed me as an oddity. A Witch who wanted to study the ancient religion, live alone in profound isolation, and communicate only four times a year with her fellow adepts and interested students was not at all the sort of person with whom the wealthy and practical Malfoy clan would want to associate or acknowledge kinship. I assure you, however, that you and I are blood relatives."

"Um, okay, it was certainly good to meet you and I'll mention our meeting to my parents. By the way, this is my girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson. I guess this begins her tour of meeting the extended family."

"How fitting, the Parkinsons are an even more modern and practical family than the Malfoys. I wish you both well."

"We were wondering if you could give us any suggestions for interpreting prophecies which feature ourselves, and how much we should allow our lives to be affected by them," Hermione finally broached the pivotal topic.

"Well, I couldn't help but notice that some of you wear Keeper rings. There have been Priestesses who have been Keepers or assistant Keepers, although the Keeper goes back a very long time to the original Covenant. The rings have magical powers, greater than most wands. They can aid prophetic vision, especially if you sleep with them and allow them to influence your dreams. Sometimes they can aid in revealing a new prophecy, but more typically you may dream a scene that fleshes out and partially explains a prophecy that you've already heard, but are attempting to understand. Such a dream can be a warning that the time of the prophecy is at hand. There are herbs that can also promote such prophetic dreams. An infusion of ginger, anise, crushed hemerocallis buds, and two other ingredients, which perhaps I shouldn't mention in order to protect your safety, is most effective, but must be used with care, lest in lead to madness or death. Yes, it is quite possible to die or go mad in such an herb-enhanced prophetic dream. There are those who say to die in such a dream is to die in real life and never awake from that dream.

"My mind is diverging, because of the sight of your rings. I went to Hogwarts with the Wizard who became the Lord Montaigne of my early adulthood. He was as evil a young Wizard as ever I met. He tried to manipulate his own herb-induced prophetic dreams in an attempt to alter the waking world. He claimed some success, although I never saw any proof of it, apart from his father suddenly dropping dead of unexplained causes at a time that was most convenient to the ambitions of my young Lord. I say my, because he, as well as my parents, had taken it into their heads that he and I were to marry. I would have none of it and joined the sisters instead."

"Which Hogwarts house did you belong to?" asked Luna.

"Why, Ravenclaw, of course. All of the Witches who became priestesses of the ancient religion have sorted into Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw, herself, was such a priestess."

"That's very interesting," Luna replied, "but I shouldn't have diverted you from your suggestions about interpreting and being guided by prophecies."

"The key to interpreting them is to continually relook at them in light of whatever seemingly useful new facts you learn as you go about your life. There is no way that a prophecy cannot affect the life of any person who has sufficient interest or belief in prophesying as to ask the question 'how do I interpret this prophecy, which relates to me'. Those who don't believe at all simply hear it and ignore it. If you have a shred of belief, it slowly works on your mind, until one day you look back and think of all the time you spent trying to understand it and all the little ways that you acted differently, because you heard the prophecy. The sum of all those little changes in thinking and acting will add up to a big change in the direction of your life, whether or not the events described in the prophecy actually occur.

"Even if you arrange your life to act in a way that makes it impossible for the prophecy to come true, that prophecy has definitely changed your life. When I was at Hogwarts, my Divination teacher, the grandmother of your Professor Trelawney, revealed to me a prophecy involving myself and my little Lord and what would happen should we wed. I can't swear that this changed my life. I wasn't at all eager to marry that arrogant fool, even before I heard the prophecy, but that certainly sealed his fate. In addition to just wanting to run away from him and become a sister, I carried the belief that I was sparing the Wizarding world great harm by never wedding him, or anyone else. It gave a noble feeling about doing what I wanted to do, anyway."

Professor McGonagall seemed to conclude that we had come to an appropriate terminal point for our discussion, saying "it has been great to visit with you again, Victoria, and I think you have given my students much to ponder, but I think it is time for us to get back to Hogwarts. I think it would be good to resume this discussion after the students have had a chance to contemplate all that you have said."

"As I tell my infrequent visitors, return soon or I can't promise to still be here. I would like to hear the prophecies in question and the circumstances under which you learned of them."

Hermione said she would be happy to read the prophecies to Victoria, "except …", that one word objection being voiced with great emphasis, while looking directly at Draco.

"I think I'll walk back to our disapparating point with Draco and Pansy, while the rest of you finish your conversation," McGonagall hastily announced.

I noticed that Professor Trelawney chose to stay with us as Hermione read the three prophecies to the ancient Witch and described the manner in which we had heard of them. When she mentioned that it was Lord Montaigne, who had first hinted at the third prophecy, Victoria was seized with an urgency to speak.

"I warn you, beware of that Wizard. All of the males in his family are arrogant, ambitious, domineering, stupid, weak, extremely devious, and evil. I can see why you would be disturbed by such prophecies. Things are moving even faster than I feared. I take it I am speaking to the Mother of the Future."

Having heard those comments, Hermione hastily identified me as Mother of the Future and herself as my Muse. She said she had a fourth prophesy relating to the Montaignes, which she felt compelled to reveal. She told Victoria how we had encountered this prophecy on the stone table and the reaction it had caused with Lord Montaigne. She also mentioned Cissy, Harry's Montaigne heritage, and the murder of Harry's grandfather. For good measure, not knowing how up-to-date Victoria was on current events, Hermione also told the Harry-Neville-Voldemort prophecy, Trelawney's role in its revelation, and the history of how that prophecy had played out.

"I may live in the forest, my dear, but I have heard of Harry Potter. I was curious why he stood silently before me. I should add that in my experience, the Montaigne sickness does not extend to the females of the line."

"Yes, ma'am," Harry hastily replied "it just seemed more appropriate to let the Witches do the conversing. I have listened intently to all that you have said."

"I think that was wise. You should rejoin Minerva, but for all of our sakes, I urge you to visit me again, soon."

We rejoined our group and were almost immediately walking across the Hogwarts grounds toward the castle. That afternoon we renewed our search of the forest for the Resurrection Stone.


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter Forty-Five – From the Mind of Albus Dumbledore**

Fortunately, Beauxbatons had given us Flamel's illuminator of magical force lines. Even with the detector, searching the woods was a tedious process and we quickly discovered that Harry had only a rough memory of the route he had taken in finding Voldemort. Whereas he had assured us that the path he had taken in his approach to Voldemort was indelibly etched in his brain, when we asked him the detailed questions "did you pass to the right or the left of this tree, rotting stump, path, etc." his answer invariably was "I can't really remember, although I remember walking toward that", you name it, fifty yards ahead of us. Harry also recalled dropping the stone "not far from the clearing." So although we were certain that we were never deviating more than twenty-five feet in any direction from the path that Harry had traveled toward Voldemort, that still left us an area fifty feet wide by a two hundred and fifty feet long of leaf and litter-strewn forest floor, which had to be minutely inspected. We could only stand the bending and squatting that the search required for a couple hours a day. It was almost a week until we found the stone. In the excitement of finding the ring, we were saved by Ron's safety drill at the start of each day's search. "Remember: do not try to put the ring on! Do not even touch it with bare fingers. Pick it up with a cloth and wrap it". This mantra, which Ron repeated at least several times a day led to proper safe handling of the ring, almost as second nature.

We found the ring just beyond the extreme edge of the area in which Harry thought it could possibly be. This made the maximum bending and squatting for the rest of us. Harry did some searching, but usually had to duck out to the ministry. It was Luna who actually discovered the ring on day three of our search. Of course she followed Ron's safety precautions. Luna may be a little loopy, but she's smart and she isn't given to taking unnecessary risks – especially now that she is happily together with George.

The ring was now stashed on a side table in our common room, guarded by Mom, as we awaited Harry's return from his daily duties at the Ministry.

When Harry returned, we again tackled the cabinets. Harry wore gloves as he touched the ring to the seal of the first cabinet. The cabinet instantly popped open, the solid metal face simply vanishing. Harry performed the same trick with the second cabinet and then we set about, with the assistance and under the watchful eye of Professor McGonagall, to assess the treasures which the cabinets had hidden.

The top shelf of the first cabinet held a pile of sealed envelopes, addressed in Professor Dumbledore's hand. Unsurprisingly there were envelopes for Dumbledore's brother Aberforce, for Professor McGonagall, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Shacklebolt, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, but somewhat surprisingly also to Cissy, Draco, Cho, Luna, Wood, Percy, and me. We had awkwardly set aside the envelopes addressed to Professor Snape, Minister Scrimgouer, Lupin, Tonks, 'Fred and George Weasley', and Dobby. We placed on another pile the envelopes to Dr. Sprout, the Goblin King, Bane, Firenze, and Lord Montaigne.

"Discipline!" Professor McGonagall commanded. "Let's at least finish checking out this first cabinet, before we rush into reading what Dumbledore left to us. If there's anything that needs to be secured, I want to make certain it is secure, before we leave it exposed for Lord Montaigne to grab when he comes up through his secret entrance."

The second shelf held a little over fifty of the sort of vials that I recognized as containing stored memories. Professor Dumbledore had made special wooden holders for the memories, each wooden box having cylindrical holes to accept twenty-five vials. The first two wooden boxes were filled, while the third contained nine vials. Professor McGonagall observed "we'll have to begin to systematically view these before the start of term. You had best secrete the two full boxes in Gryffindor. We'll view the partial box first and I'll lock it in my desk. That way we'll know Dumbledore's most recent thoughts as soon as possible."

The bottom shelf was filled with what appeared to be the missing Flamel archives. We glanced through them briefly, but they were in French. We helped Professor McGonagall as she transferred them to a lockable cabinet in her main office.

We then turned our attention to the second cabinet. What stood out most was the bottom shelf, which was filled with a very strange collection of copper, brass, silver, crystal, and gold devices of apparent Goblin manufacture. We removed them one by one, passing each around for examination, but having little idea of what their function might be. Professor McGonagall emptied out papers from the second shelf of her own cabinet, and we transferred these instruments into their place. Having quenched our curiosity about these artifacts, we began a more organized examination of the second cabinet, beginning with the top shelf. This contained folders on individual students whom Dumbledore must have found especially significant for some reason, going back at least a generation, because Harry found folders for his mother and father, which he removed and tucked into his robes, as he did his own folder.

He was grabbing Draco's folder, when Professor McGonagall slapped his knuckles, demanding "the privacy of the other students must be protected. If there is anything of value to our cause, I'll let you know, but I shall read them first and make certain that they are suitable for other than the headmaster's eyes. The same for the folder on Cissy and her father: those were not intended for your eyes. I'm being somewhat lenient, because Dumbledore left the key to the cabinet to you, rather than to Snape or me, but I have an absolute duty to protect the other students. I'll give you your own files: Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna, and George, which I will see that he receives. The others will be vetted by me."

I thought this was going to be the moment for our long predicted break with McGonagall. I sensed that Harry felt the same. He was speaking with considerable heat, as he declared "No, Dumbledore left these cabinets to me. He did not leave them to the next Hogwarts Headmaster. He obviously felt they would help me to finish the battle which he and I fought together. You are not the person to whom he left these files. I doubt they are strictly school files – more likely they relate to the Voldemort war and whom could be trusted. They are not for you. Dumbledore did not leave the snitch to you."

"But I am the headmaster and these cabinets are in my school… in my private office, in fact."

"Dumbledore did not name you his successor. That was Snape's job. Snape did not name a successor. I do not think that you can honestly claim these as your personal property. They're mine, by Dumbledore's direct action…"

"Alright, Harry. Can we postpone this decision? Let's agree that neither of us will look at these files for now. Read your own and your parents' files. You decide if these are school records or combat notes. Then we can discuss this again."

McGonagall had been scooping the files from the cabinet and transferring them to her own cabinet.

I was doing as quick a read over her shoulder and committing to memory as I best I could, to keep a record of exactly whose files were in this cabinet. I saw 'Thomas Riddle', 'Adrienne Celine', 'Rubeus Hagrid', 'Xenophilius Lovegood', 'Lee Jordan', 'Cho Chang', 'Alastair Sprout', 'Bruce Montaigne', 'Nigel Montaigne', 'Callista Wright', 'Arthur Weasley', 'Narcissa Black', 'Lucius Malfoy', 'Amelia Bones', 'Percy Weasley', 'Bill Baggins', 'Prudence Fisher', 'Malcolm Frakes', 'Rita Skeeter', 'Kingsley Shacklebolt', 'Horace Slughorn', 'Jaden …', 'Tom Beecher', 'Worley Fortescue' and close to a dozen others that I missed because Professor McGonagall moved through them too quickly, then several dozen more that I missed when McGonagall caught me sneaking a peak over her shoulder and scooped them up en masse.

Harry insisted that the files be returned to the Dumbledore cabinet, declaring "I will see whether I can reseal the cabinet. That is the standoff. I control access to the cabinet, while you control access to the office."

"Has it really come to this?" McGonagall almost pleaded with Harry.

Harry didn't speak his response, but his expression clearly said that the answer was "yes".

The two of them eyed each other, until McGonagall finally spoke to Harry "alright, Harry. I can see that you view these files as part of your inheritance from your mentor. I don't mean to exclude you and I don't mistrust your intent in wanting to view the files. Let's be friends and try to pursue this jointly at a later date, when we are both calm. Don't sulk. The rest of the cabinet awaits us and likely holds equally important secrets."

The second shelf contained manuscripts and books that apparently were too restricted to be in the 'restricted' section of the library. We saw several books on horcruxes, a book by Flamel, several other books whose titles suggested that they dealt with very dark magic, about a dozen hand-written books, which appeared to be Dumbledore's personal diaries, several dozen sets of minutes from Gringotts' meetings that must have been very significant, and in the far right corner, a half dozen wooden cylinders and a rectangular wooden box.

Without waiting for a potential argument, Harry swept up the diaries and stashed them inside his robes. He left the rest of the booty in place.

We opened the wooden box first, and found that it contained two large keys and two rings. I recognized one of the rings as a Keeper ring, but it was decidedly on the small size, certainly not big enough to be other than a pinkie ring for Dumbledore. On closer examination, I saw that the inside of the ring was engraved "Helena Ravenclaw". The other ring, which was larger, was an assistant Keeper ring. No name was inscribed inside this ring.

The first of the large keys looked like a Hogwarts' key. Drawing her own key from her robes and comparing it to the key that Ron was holding, Professor McGonagall declared that it was one of the Hogwarts master keys. She did not know the function of the second key, other than that is did not appear to be of Hogwarts origin. Among other things, this key was silver and she had never seen a silver Hogwarts key. She locked the silver key away in her desk and suggested that we return to Gryffindor to read what Dumbledore had left for us. "I'll distribute the other envelopes at dinner, tonight. After dinner, we'll start working our way through these nine memories."

It appeared that Harry and McGonagall had returned to reasonably good terms. I had noticed that when Harry, with an air of total entitlement, had scooped up Dumbledore's personal diaries, that he had half-waited for a challenge. The expected challenge from Professor McGonagall never materialized. Similarly, I could not stop thinking that McGonagall had been unsure whether we would allow her to lock away the silver key. Harry did not challenge her. We had a truce.

Harry produced the Resurrection Stone and after several unsuccessful tries, found that the simple command 'lock' did the trick. Hermione, who had stayed out of the fight between Harry and McGonagall, stepped forward to add some anti-tamper and alarm spells of her own. It was a quiet, but very strong statement of her position.

Neville and Ron each carried one of the memory boxes as we headed back to our common room. The memory boxes were to be hidden in the boys' dorm, but Hermione told Harry "if you allow Ginny and me to store them in our room, I promise you that I can wrap them in so many spells and charms that even Dumbledore would have trouble stealing them."

Harry walked to the fireplace and returned with two smallish split logs, which he placed on the table in front of the sofa. "I'm thinking the old phony death stick trick. Can you transfigure two phony trays of vials for us. You take the real ones and Ron and I will hide the copies."

George brought two water glasses for Hermione, in case it was a lot easier to change something glass into the glass of vials. Hermione thanked him, saying the glass would definitely make her job easier. It took Hermione surprisingly little time to complete this task and then she was off to our room, calling over her shoulder from the stairs "protect your block with charms as best you and Ron are able. We don't want a thief to think the job was too easy."

The boys went off to do exactly that. When they returned, taking longer than Hermione had spent on the real protective charms, we settled back in our separate spots to see what Dumbledore had left to us. I carefully slit open my envelope, knowing that I would want to save it. The envelope contained three sheets of message paper, covered in blue ink, in Dumbledore's hand. The note read:

_Ginny,_

_I have had nearly five years to observe you and to observe you grow into your full maturity here at Hogwarts. A headmaster notices far more than he says, and is able to guess at many unseen things. I am writing this note knowing that this is the last term that I will see you at Hogwarts. I'm told that my blackened hand, which you surely have observed, will soon prove fatal. Before I go, I want to leave you with some thoughts. I am sure that you are well aware of your own athletic ability and courage, but fear that you have not fully grasped the full extent of your intellectual capability. I have observed that you have taken to magical skills far faster than the average Witch and your professors report to me that you have been quick to grasp the concepts of transfiguration, potions, and divination. I foresee great things ahead for you and implore you not to waste any of your skills._

_Your attraction for Harry and his for you have also not escaped my notice. I think you will be very good for him and that he needs someone with your abilities as a confidante and defender. Harry is very intelligent and talented, but far too rash. It will be your job to slow him down a little and see that he exercises sufficient caution and judgment. Harry is driven to protect others, but it will fall upon you to protect Harry. Don't be shy about being assertive with him when needs be. I have found the need to restrain some of his passion for adventure. I know you to be more mature and wiser than Harry, so your counsel will always be important to him. Harry also needs Hermione and Ron as allies and confidantes, so resist the temptation to shove them to the side as you and Harry grow closer together. Your brother is far less mature than you and will need your patience and guidance. Hermione can help you in learning the best way to communicate with him. Listen to your mother; she is one of the wisest people I know and of remarkably steady emotion. Your father tends to be underestimated by others. Please don't make that mistake yourself. Know that Arthur always bumbles and tinkers to great importance. He sees how the game plays out several steps ahead of me. You would be wise to trust his judgment._

_I leave several difficult tasks for you and the others. I would deal with them myself, were I able to be there, but since you have this note, I am no more. I hope that the battle against Voldemort has been won; if it has been lost, I beseech you to convince Harry, Ron, and Hermione that the four of you must flee to the New World, until Voldemort is gone. He will not live forever, despite his horcruxes. It may take until your children's' generation, but if you choose to hide, you will replace him. It is the heavy duty that I leave to you to convince Harry of the wisdom of this plan. It is not the cowardly course; it is the only course which can possibly prevail. Know only that I have seen your prophecies and that you must protect yourselves. Don't rush to seek them out, you will become aware of them soon enough. I really think that you must give them some weight, fantastical as they might seem. Trust McGonagall and Snape and your parents. I'm not sure how many others I can ask you to give the necessary level of trust. I believe that your brothers, Neville, Luna, Lupin, Tonks, and Shacklebolt will be with you to the end, although they may refuse to flee. You must prevail upon them. _

_Should you be victorious, as I have every reason to expect, your first priority must be making peace among all the magical creatures, including whatever remaining supporters of Voldemort are willing to take a different path. Should he survive, I believe Draco to be worth saving. He has more ability than any of the other children of our aristocrats and even a welcome bit of self-understanding, which I hope you will nourish._

_I also ask you to assist Neville Longbottom in becoming a professor at Hogwarts. That is where his destiny lies._

_If you have this note, then you have opened my secret cabinets. I invite you to explore the memories and to make use of the metal toys that I have left for all of you. The memories and my note to Harry provide more details on what you must do. Much can be explained to you by the Goblin King and by Firenze. I believe that you may trust both of them, although the King is not without his weaknesses._

_Do not put your trust in Scrimgouer, or in Lord Montaigne, whom I' m sure you will meet all too soon. Also know that Bane has a good side and a bad side. I believe him to be basically good, but do not provoke him to prideful wrath._

_Your loving headmaster_

I went over to Harry and asked if he was willing to exchange notes. He didn't agree as instantly as I would have hoped, but nodded yes and passed his note for me to read.

M_y Dear Harry,_

_If you are reading this note, then I am no longer alive, but thankfully you still are. I also will assume that Voldemort has been defeated. If this is not the case, please swallow your pride and for the good of all Wizards, take to heart what I say in my note to Ginny and flee with your friends. In that case, we all bravely fought the best fight we possibly could, but it was not enough. If you are patient and wait for the right moment, another time will come. Please trust me on that and believe that the long game is winnable. Voldemort and his allies have no affection for each other and will inevitably have a falling out. You or your children will know the proper time to strike. I believe the safest place for you to hide is among the secret Wizard communities in eastern Pennsylvania of the United States of America and eastern Indiana of that same nation. I have visited those Wizards once and know that they have good hearts and will protect you._

_If, as I believe certain, you are reading this note in the flush of victory, then I remind you that we fight to preserve a good life for all Wizards, we do not live to fight. It is time for you to finish your education and take your place among the leaders of the magical beings. I taught you to fear and disdain politicians, but you can be a better replacement for what we've had. I have tried to train you for that, and have asked Professors Snape and McGonagall to carry on after I am gone._

_It is important that you trust and stay with your friends and Ginny. If you have been my favorite student over these many years, then it is also true that I have never seen such a group of brave, goodhearted, intelligent, and capable students as yourself, Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, Ginny, and Cho. Please stay together and remember the idealistic spirit that made you as good a group as you have been._

_My personal request to you is that you exercise patience and use your mind more than your wand. You seem to shut out others, rather than expose them to the risks that you take, when they have made their own choice to face those same perils. It is fine to let others protect you in the future. But on to the specific things that I think you need to know if you are to succeed in the peace as you have succeeded in the battle. Much of what you will need is in these two cabinets._

_First, you must meet and eventually best Lord Montaigne. He is not an evil man, but he foolishly clings to his thoughts of an idealized past and to his family's power and position. He and his ancestors have done far more harm than good. He also has done far too much to protect a son who is pure evil. I have only known the young daughter for one year, but have reason to believe she has a good heart. Knowing what was coming for me and her, I spent an unusual amount of time watching her and meeting with her during her first year at Hogwarts. She thought it was because she was failing, but I needed to make certain that I had taken the proper read of her. You must protect and nurture her. Her family is the greatest threat to her education and even to her life._

_Here is what you need to know about Montaigne. He is the head of a family of usurpers and chooses to lurk in the background exerting his power until the time comes that he is balked and chooses to act. He is weak in magical skills but a formidable opponent. He has followed his family's tradition of keeping Wizards backward and that poses a growing risk in a modern world. He is the main force behind Gringotts Bank and that institution does not believe in democratic rule or in progress. Without the Montaignes, I believe that the present Goblin King is persuadable to do the right thing. I have endeavored to discover what hold Montaigne has over the King, but have not succeeded. You must search for that key, it may be important. Correct that – it is vital. The Goblin King is not moveable by logical entreaty or appeals to his natural goodness – for some reason, he is too afraid to do what he knows to be right. He will temporize and appear to agree, but in the end, he will disappoint._

_In this cabinet are copies of the Original Covenant among the magical creatures, which among other things provides for the protection of Hogwarts, magic, and the magical creatures sheltered in the forest. The Goblins protect a cave far below Hogwarts. This cave is where the early Wizards and Goblins anchored the magical lines of force that were concentrated from the whole of Scotland and northern England. These force lines are locked in the bedrock and amplified by a circle of diamonds inside an outer circle of tall, perfectly tuned crystals. Magic lives in this cave and can be weakened or extinguished from there. There is a second site in England, beneath Gringotts Bank, as well as a source in Ireland at the center of the old Weasley estate._

_Lord Montaigne has effective control of the Hogwarts site in his role as Keeper of the Covenant. He shows only the open Covenant, the latest and least significant of the three. The Original Covenant is primary and the Hidden Covenant is also important. Both are in this cabinet. When you read them, you will realize that the Montaignes are usurpers. The duties of Keeper were meant to be split between the Minister of Magic and the Headmaster of Hogwarts. There is no need for that particular favorable tradition to be maintained, but the Montaignes must be deposed. If you must grab the Keeper title for yourself, I beseech you to set humility aside and do so._

_Also in the cabinet, you will find some texts on dark magic and some of Nicholas Flamel's best work. Both should be of value to you in completing the task that I leave to you – starting a golden age of peace among all magical creatures and restoring Wizards on the path of progress that we left when the first Montaigne seized control of our fate. There are minutes of the Gringotts Bank and some private bank correspondence in the cabinet, which should make these matters clearer to you._

_I cannot possibly put all that I wish to say into a short note. The memories in the cabinet are for you to view. You have my permission to share them with your allies. They will provide additional guidance on the path forward and shed light on some past events that will illuminate that path. They also will explain the proper use of the tools that I left behind._

_There is a Hogwarts key in the wooden box, which may benefit you as much as your magical map. It will open many doors. There also is a silver key that will give you access to the secrets beneath the Weasley estate. The Ravenclaw Keeper ring still works. You can follow the opening in the fireplace in my inner office all the way to the Crystal Cave. The Goblins will challenge you if you enter that cave. You must be brave and declare yourself the true Keeper, with the authority passed down from Ravenclaw to me and from me to you. The other ring is for your assistant. It also works. Choose wisely._

_A few final words from a headmaster who truly loved you: You are not a child anymore, give up Quidditch. Marry Ginny and have many children. One of your future children is likely to need the things that I have left for you. Keep them safe. I think the Centaurs can help you with this and provide the key when your son requires it. Tell him to trust the Centaur Professor of Divination. This includes the Resurrection Stone, which is of no further use to you. Trust Snape and McGonagall. In choosing the permanent staff of Hogwarts, I have striven to choose the finest minds and purest hearts from our Wizarding world. If a professor has been here more than two terms, you can know that they have earned my trust and respect. This last request is an imposition from an old man who has made many unfair requests of you. Please befriend Narcissa and Draco Malfoy. They are the key to reuniting the old Great Families with the rest of the Wizards. Trust your friend Ron, he will play an important role in the future and has more ability than he or you realize._

_Your second substitute father, matchmaker and headmaster,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

I passed Harry's note back to him. He placed it back into the envelope and said he would save it forever. I remarked that our notes were very consistent. Harry laughed and said it was very strange to have our future marriage and even future children foretold by Dumbledore a year and a half ago. "I keep saying that I am living a life and not simply following a fate, but times like this truly give me pause."

Neville came up to us, holding a page of his note. "Dumbledore asked me to share this page of my note with you and Ginny. I can't go against his wishes," he said handing us the sheet. I touched Harry's arm as he read:

You are my choice for the next vacant Professorship at Hogwarts. Give this note to Professor McGonagall and she will make a spot for you in Herbology. You may or may not have figured in the Voldemort prophecy, but there is another prophecy which concerns you and which requires your tenure on the Hogwarts faculty. It is not yet time for you to know this prophecy, but Harry Potter or Ginny Weasley or Professor Firenze will fill you in with plenty of time to prepare for your fate. Know that I choose you for my faculty not just because of the prophecy, although one as prophesied as yourself is a very special Wizard, but rather for the traits of bravery, loyalty, adherence to the more important rules, and intelligence which I have had so much opportunity to observe during your time here.

I have another equally vital role for you and that is as an ally and confidante of Harry Potter. You have shown the courage to speak up and tell him when he has been wrong and to rally to his side when he has been right. Harry could not ask for any finer Wizards as friends than you and Ronald Weasley. The time will come when Harry will not wish to follow your caution, but you must make him do so.

I have asked Professor McGonagall to be my successor as headmaster, but my ultimate successor is to be you. I have asked Professor McGonagall to groom you for the academic side of those duties. By this note, I am asking Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to groom you for the extracurricular duties that have always fallen to the headmaster of Hogwarts. Not that you'll need it, but best of luck to you.

Harry and I gave our notes to Neville. There was no wider sharing of the Dumbledore notes. "It's really quite personal," Ron explained.

Dinner was one of the more adventuresome off-term menus. The reason became clear as the tables filled up. Professor McGonagall had invited all of the recipients of the Dumbledore notes, which she had promised to deliver. Thus, we were honored not only by the presence of the Minister, but of Lord Montaigne, Cissy, Dumbledore's brother, the Goblin King, and Bane. Cho had returned from Durmstrang for the occasion. The menu was vegetarian plus fish, in honor of the King, and the theme was Indian. The meal began with a chilled roasted vegetable soup, which was pungently laced with ginger, garlic, cilantro and pepper. This was served with a cabbage and broccoli salad with roasted peppercorns, lime and ginger. For the fish course, there was a spicy swordfish curry with coconut sauce accompanied by tamarind rice with cinnamon and a vegetable curry of okra with potatoes and pear tomatoes. Dessert was chai tea with mithai ka masala over banana fudge. Professor McGonagall served champagne in place of the ever-present sherry. Everyone was in high spirits over dinner, with a pleasing babble of light conversation and well wishes to Professor McGonagall on getting Hogwarts pulled back together and a new term ready to be successfully launched.

As we were finishing our desserts, Professor McGonagall handed out the notes from Dumbledore to our distinguished guests. They all immediately began to read the message that Dumbledore was sending them from the grave, no doubt realizing that he had expected them to receive these missives about a year earlier.

All was going well until Lord Montaigne turned red in the face and stood to glare at Professor McGonagall, almost screaming "I don't know what game you're playing at, Madam, but you've picked the wrong Wizard to trifle with." With that, he balled up the message, threw it in her face, and turned to leave.

"I don't know what the problem is," Professor McGonagall responded, "but I can assure you that I have no idea regarding the contents of whatever final thoughts Dumbledore wished to address to you. I have not opened any of the notes and am simply complying with my mentor's wishes in forwarding these messages to you as soon as we were able to open Dumbledore's cabinet and access them. If you have a quarrel, it is with Dumbledore, and he is beyond caring about anything you want to shout at him."

"Then, pardon me for directing my anger at you," Lord Montaigne replied, "but even in death, Dumbledore is unspeakably rude. You'll excuse me, but my daughter and I must take our leave."

I noticed that Harry had used his non-wand magical talent to levitate the balled up message from where it had landed on the floor into the pocket of his robes. He was none too soon, either, because the thought seemed to cross Lord Montaigne's mind that perhaps he should retrieve the note. I saw him scan the table and as he walked away, surreptitiously peering at the section of floor around Professor McGonagall's chair. He could not find the note and continued out of the Great Hall. A very embarrassed-looking Cissy had folded her own message and placed it in her robes as she shambled after her father. She made a motion with her right arm, as if throwing her balled up note back into the Great Hall. Her father noticed the motion and made the briefest of attempts to find the note. He lingered only a second or two, then grabbed his daughter by the shoulder and half dragged her the rest of the way from the Great Hall. The door of the Great Hall closed behind her.

"I must say, breeding always shows," laughed the King. "Anyone else for more champagne?"

We spoke to Aberforce Dumbledore as the guests were starting to leave. I told him what we had discovered in the Reception Hall. Aberforce seemed skeptical that the Centaurs or Goblins could possibly know the real story. "They weren't there, I was."

As we bade goodbye to our guests, Professor McGonagall indicated that we should meet in her office, so Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Mom, Dad, George and I followed her and Professor Trelawney up to her office. I couldn't help noticing that she also scanned the floor in search of the note to Lord Montaigne, even bending over to peer beneath the table. As her office door close behind us, I said to Harry, "Alright Harry, I'm dying to hear what is in the note to Lord Montaigne."

"I'm glad you snagged it before Montaigne could retrieve it," gloated Professor McGonagall.

I looked over Harry's shoulder as he read the note aloud:

_Lord Montaigne,_

_Clearly I am no longer alive, and unfortunately you are. We both know that you are a usurper with no rightful claim to either the title of Keeper or of Lord. The first title is the booty of your ancient ancestor Gran Montine's heist of the Original Covenant, the latter is a plum stolen for you by your father. You deserve neither. For the sake of your soul, the Wizard community, and your daughter, I implore you to renounce your illegitimate titles. You know the prophecy as well as I. If you persist in your folly, only trouble will come to you and your line. If you care not for the rest of your community, give a concern for your family and do the right thing. There is a reason I have absented myself from Montaigne Castle for these many years. I was too old and too sensitive a Wizard to bear the stench. This is your last chance to do the right thing and avoid calamity._

_The True Keeper,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

"Certainly short and to the point," Professor McGonagall remarked. "Since Harry has done such a good job of reading, I'll ask him to read Professor Dumbledore's message to me. I don't think I could get through it without tearing up." She handed her note to Harry.

_My dearest Minerva,_

_You and Trew have been a huge part of my life for almost longer than I can remember. I could not have performed any of my jobs satisfactorily without your support and guidance. Now that I am gone, I hope that you remain to carry on my life's work. I shall endeavor to not make this note too personal, as I wish that you share it with Trew, Snape, Harry Potter and Harry's friends. Feel free to share or discuss it with any others of your choosing._

_My wish is that you succeed me as headmaster of Hogwarts. I hope that the Minister and the schools' governing board see fit to honor my request. It is for the best of both the school and its students. It is my wish that Professor Snape remain as a Professor at Hogwarts and that he lead whatever remains of the Order of the Phoenix. I know that he did not ever have your full trust, but he was always faithful in carrying out the important duties that I assigned to him. It is not that I don't trust you to lead the Order, or see you as insufficiently skilled or tough, but merely that I know you will have your hands more than full assuming the reins of Hogwarts. You don't want to begin your tenure as headmaster by spreading yourself too thin. In this regard, I beg you to give up your special extracurricular activities and focus upon the important job ahead. I have asked that Severus seek your guidance and support before undertaking any significant action on behalf of the Order. I have asked Severus to integrate Harry and his friends into the Order. It is my fervent wish that they passed through this last troubling period unharmed._

_You should know that the headmaster of Hogwarts was intended to have certain prerogatives and subsidiary responsibilities in the wider Wizarding world. A seat on the Gringotts Board of Directors is yours for the asking. This is an important job, but one that has been made a constant frustration to me, due to the actions of the various Lords Montaigne and the inexplicable hold they have over the Goblin King. The Bank could be a force for good, but it has been the leading force for stasis. I failed to change this and hope that you will have better luck. I apologize for the disadvantage with which you may take up this responsibility. I could not resist sharing my true views with Lord Montaigne. You will have to stand up to him on the Gringotts Board. You likely will also have to stand up to him if his daughter is to attend Hogwarts and receive an education. As you know, Lord Montaigne's father put little regard in a Hogwarts education and the present Lord Montaigne is a Wizard in name only._

_The other prerogative that should fall to you as headmaster is the role of Keeper, or at the very least, as an assistant to the Keeper. Lord Montaigne's family took advantage of a period of weakness in the Wizarding world to seize this title for themselves. They used their ill-gotten favor in the nonWizarding world to carve out a position of power in our community. If you have this note, then Harry has unlocked my private cabinets. The cabinets contain a working Keeper's Ring. It is the legitimate original ring given to headmaster Ravenclaw at the signing of the Original Covenant among the leaders of all the magical creatures. Despite the usurpation, this ring has been handed down through the ages to its true owners, the headmasters of Hogwarts. The other true ring belonged to the Wizard King Weasley, who was cheated of his lands and title through the combined actions of the head of the Malfoy family, the brother of Gunter Gran Montine, and a corrupt Goblin King. This ring may be at the Weasley ancestral home in Ireland. I want Ron to have that ring and you or Harry to have the Ravenclaw ring. It is my prayer that the Montaignes will be deposed in your lifetime and you can be a part of setting things right._

_You and Snape and Harry and his friends need to study the Original Covenant and the original Charter for Gringotts Bank. The first shows how the leaders of all the magical people hoped that their differing tribes would live in a long-lasting and productive peace. The second shows the intended role of Gringotts Bank, a role from which it diverged centuries ago. This was one of the institutions created to support the Wizarding community when it went into hiding. It has failed and only the Ministry remains, although I also leave that in very weak and corruptible hands._

_I expect Harry and his friends, with the help of the Order, to have defeated Voldemort by the end of Harry's Sixth Year. The temptation will be strong for Harry and his friends to bask in the adulation of their fellow Wizards and decide to make their way in the larger world, rather than return for their seventh year. I charge you to persuade them of the importance of completing their education. I think I left them well prepared for battle. It falls to you to prepare them for peace and reconciliation._

_I never had the courage to find out what truly happened on that fateful day that my sister died and my life changed. I once had the thought that it might be a blessing were I relieved of the burden of her care. I don't know what happened and fear I may have followed that thought to being not as careful of her as I might have been. I was too afraid of my own culpability to seek out the truth, but suspect that Grindelwald confunded me to hide that truth. He all but admitted as much, but would not say if he did so for my benefit or his alone. If you or Harry feel it appropriate to seek out the truth that I avoided, I ask that you share the tale, however well or poorly it reflects upon me, with my brother Aberforce. I have maintained contact with him, although our relationship was not as warm as I would have hoped. Despite the partial estrangement, he has done his best to help me and our shared cause._

_Whether you are Keeper, an assistant to the Keeper, or hold neither of these roles, it is still your responsibility to safeguard the magical creatures in the forest sanctuary. Bane and his Centaurs have dominion over that sanctuary and that is the reason that you must forbid the students from entering without permission. I doubt Bane would actually harm a student, but he can become extremely touchy when the forest is invaded, even by a child. I had his permission to enter as a friend and assistant Keeper. In furthering good relations with the Centaurs, it is my wish that Firenze remain as a Professor of Divination. He has a gift for reading the celestial messages. I realize this will bother Trew, but ask that she put her resentments aside in support of the greater good. You really should try persuading her to teach a subject of greater relevance than her style of divination. I have failed in this regard, but you are closer to her. You also must protect and care for the Unicorns. They are very special creatures and there are so few of them left. We all depend greatly upon the Unicorns._

_The magic in the crystal cave beneath Hogwarts is very real. It is the source of all magic in this part of Britain. The crystals sometimes need tuning to keep them functioning properly. This is normally done by the Goblins, an action that is only required every other decade or so. I once had need to make the adjustment myself, using the tools left in the cabinet for you and Harry. In the diaries and some of my memories, I explain how to use them. These are ancient tools from the time of the Original Covenant. Montaigne has stolen the title, but he never acquired the tools and is unable to alter the magic, himself. The Keeper ring will lead you past the fireplace in my inner office, down the stairs to the Reception Hall and even into the cave. The socket into which to fit the ring is obvious. I always made the choice of the Gryphon. It will be safe for you to go as far as the Reception Hall and summon help. You enter the cave at forfeit of your life, but that may be the price required to complete your mission._

_I ask Harry to share the memories and diaries that I left to him with you and with his friends. This is my truest legacy to all of you. They convey more of my thoughts and theories of what must be done to preserve the future than I could possibly record in a few notes. I ask that you trust and help Harry. He has much left to accomplish and I believe he is sufficiently mature and capable for the tasks ahead. He and his friends will need your guidance and support. It is time for the next generation to begin to pick up the reins of our movement and steer our dreams into port. They can't do it alone, but our generation cannot possibly do it without them._

_I've always wanted to close Slytherin, but have never been in a strong enough position to pull it off. If the opportunity ever presents itself to you, seize it with all your might._

_My best wishes to you as you pick up a heavy burden. One last thing – please take very good care of Cissy Montaigne and make sure she becomes more Witch than Muggle and as little Montaigne and Slytherin as you can manage. I've spent a lot of time with her this past year and think you can turn her into something worthwhile._

_Albus_

"That leaves us time for tea and a memory," Professor McGonagall announced. "If you would fetch the Pensieve, George, I'll choose the first memory from the last block,"

Professor McGonagall poured the memory into the Pensieve and we each took our turn to peer into its depths. When my turn came, I was as surprised as during my first experience at the feeling of literally falling into the action, with the same gut wrench that came from a medium-distance apparate. I fell into familiar surroundings: the Gringotts board room in which I had shared two lunches with the Goblin King. I saw six personages in the room. Dumbledore, Lord Montaigne, Minister Fudge, the Goblin King and his chief assistant sat at the big table, with drinks and papers in front of them. The King's Witch receptionist sat in the corner on a smaller and less comfortable looking chair, taking down a transcription of the meeting. I saw that Dumbledore was about to speak.

"The Wizarding community is stagnating economically. Even the old trading families can no longer function in the non-Wizard world without the documentation and financing that this bank should be providing. The small farmers are suffering an especially severe fate. We need fewer farmers with more land each, and good jobs for the former farmers."

"I agree, Albus," Fudge seconded the thought. "It is long past time that this bank issued loans, letters of credit, and commercial paper on warehouse inventories. Our society is sliding downhill and Gringotts is in the best position to arrest that slide."

"I'm willing to begin to start carefully making loans and issuing documents and paper to the existing Wizard businesses," the Goblin King replied. "We'll need to feel our way and gain experience, but it should work."

"It would be the end of Wizard society as we know it," an indignant Lord Montaigne stated. "Do we need to keep rehashing this old chestnut each and every year? Albus is fully aware of my position."

"But you are only one vote, your Lordship," Dumbledore was quick to reply. "It looks like I have three votes against you".

"Not so fast," said the King. "If Lord Montaigne feels so strongly about this, I am hesitant to balk his wishes. Perhaps we can negotiate a compromise."

"No compromise!" replied Lord Montaigne. "I think I've made my position abundantly clear, and I think you know that I am willing to take the necessary steps to enforce that position."

"Why are you so adamant in your opposition?" asked Fudge. "Don't you want to see your fellow Wizards prosper?"

"The Wizards who left the land are paying the inevitable price for betraying our traditional ways. The Blacks and the Parkinsons rose above their station and now they have simply fallen back to earth. The last thing we need is to fund the next Peverell so he can disrupt the community. Things would run much more smoothly, Fudge, if you were a bit more deferential to the Great Family leaders. It is attempts like this to pull Wizards from their traditional ways and loyalties that are driving some of the Great Family members into the Voldemort camp. They feel they are losing their place in society and they don't like it, and that causes instability. I have repeatedly warned you that this is a time of great flux in the magical forces, with ominous portents abounding. This is precisely the time to grab onto all the stability that we can find. I sometimes feel that I receive very little appreciation for all the hard work and sacrifice that I put forth to hold this community together."

"You speak of tradition," Dumbledore almost sneered "but you are the least traditional Wizard I have ever met. You live your life in the non-Wizarding world, other than when you come here to Lord over the rest of us. You didn't even graduate from Hogwarts, and don't possess the magical skills I would expect of an average Second Year."

"Someone has to balance your dangerous egalitarian ways. I hear you even think house Elves deserve their freedom. Many Wizards find such thoughts dangerous in the extreme. I warn you, if you don't control your loose tongue, you'll find your favorite toy taken from you. It would be worth pulling that off just to avoid sitting with you on this Board. I still blame you and that school for ruining my son. He was perfectly normal until you got your hands on him. I move that we adjourn this meeting. Actually I can't get away from some of you quickly enough".

As Lord Montaigne left the room, Dumbledore asked the King "you've indicated your true feelings. Why don't you vote your conscience?"

"I'm sorry, Dumbledore. I wish that I could, but I simply cannot. Maybe his successor will be more reasonable."

"His successor is the evil Bruce".

"Perhaps not. I've seen a prophecy that suggests Bruce will not be the successor. There may be a change sooner than you expect. I've done a little behind the scenes to push things along, but this is the long game. You must realize that. I always saw you as a man who was patient enough for the long game."

Dumbledore's memory extract ended there. As it fell back into the Pensieve, I felt the same dizziness as at the start, but, like apparation, the sensation lost some of its scariness and disorientation because I knew what was coming.

"It might have helped if Dumbledore had given somebody a heads-up on the Montaignes", Ron grumbled. "Given this, what do we make of Cissy?"

"I'm still inclined to trust her," Hermione replied.

"We now all have the extremely difficult task of knowing that Lord Montaigne is pure evil, without letting on to him that we have come to this realization. We have the advantage that he knows that his abrupt departure from the dinner may cause our next meeting to start awkwardly. He will likely assume that we have found and read Dumbledore's note, although perhaps he will decide that only McGonagall is likely to have seen it.

"I also think we should avoid letting on to Cissy just how big a rat we know her father to be."

Break, break, break

A long chapter, but Dumbledore has a lot to say. I could spend an almost infinite number of words on the treasure trove that is Dumbledore's cabinets, but will just judiciously sample their contents from time to time. We do have to view more Dumbledore memories.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter Forty-Six – Thoughts About James Potter

**It had been a long and exciting day and I was ready to crawl off to my bed. Harry had other ideas. He grabbed my hand and drew me apart from the crowd heading back to Gryffindor.**

**{[excited/frustrated]I couldn't do this before with all our friends around. I didn't even feel comfortable with Hermione or Ron. I need to read what Dumbledore wrote about my family. It is important to know whether Professor McGonagall's hoarding of Dumbledore's student notes is just a valid headmaster concern or not. But really, I just HAVE to know.}**

**Harry led me to his office and we sat side by side on his sofa. I was steeling my nerves for a weepy session, as Harry read about his dead mother. I was more than a little surprised when, of the three available envelopes, he chose his father's. He opened the large envelope and pulled out a small, cloth-bound notebook – a smaller version of the books he used for his personal diaries.**

**The outer cover of the book was labeled 'JAMES POTTER'. On opening the book to its first page, Harry exclaimed "This is Dumbledore's hand-writing. I'd recognize it anywhere."**

**I read the first page along with Harry.**

'**This book is the property of Albus Dumbledore. It is not meant for the snooping eyes of my overly-curious associates. Rest assured, I will make known to the right individual at the proper time any information contained herein as might be necessary for the flourishing of Master Potter or his fellow students. What I record here are my observations and partially-formed conclusions. Others might well misinterpret my thoughts to the detriment of Master Potter. So… don't try to snoop, because you won't be able to.'**

**Harry turned the page. The following pages were blank, as were the next two, and all those which followed. Harry held a page up against the light. There were no indentations visible from Dumbledore's quill.**

"**It's like the Tom Riddle diary," I told Harry.**

"**I think tougher than that," Harry corrected me. "Tom wanted an unwary innocent to be able to read his diary. Dumbledore did not want that. Still, it makes no sense for him to have left this book to me, if I'm not able to read it. I already know that he thought a lot about my father. I knew that if Dumbledore left written observations about any former students, that my father must be among that group. I just have to figure out how to make the writing visible."**

"**You have Dumbledore's wand. That should do it."**

"**He couldn't expect that I would have his wand. We can't retrieve the wand tonight. I need to try what I do have. The things that Dumbledore would assume that I must have."**

"**Your wand, Harry. Dumbledore would know that if you were still alive, your wand would be with you."**

"**It almost wasn't, but it is the obvious first thing to try. Dumbledore has certainly handled my wand and would know enough about it to key his book to it."**

**Harry lay the book on the sofa between us, open to pages two and three. He drew his wand and touched it to the center of page three. Nothing happened. **

"**Apparecium!" Nope."**

"**I solemnly promise that I'm up to no good."**

"**I don't think it's my wand, Ginny. I think the Resurrection Stone. Dumbledore willed that to me and it opened his cabinets."**

"**He also said that you would have no further use for it. Why not try the golden snitch, itself."**

"**It's back in our room. I'll disturb Ron, or rather alert him that we're up to something, if I get it now."**

"**I think Ron and Hermione already know something is up, although they may just assume that we're snogging."**

"**Could be. They use this office a lot more for that than we do… I shouldn't have said that."**

"**No, but the way to fix that is for us to make more use of your office, and not just for reading Dumbledore's secrets. Okay, I know you can't wait. Go fetch the snitch. You'll think of something to say to Ron."**

"**Accio snitch!"**

"**Or, you could just do that."**

**Harry grabbed my far shoulder and pulled me nearer for a snog. {[worry] It's not that I don't really enjoy doing this. **

**It was a decent enough snog, perhaps lacking a bit in passionate abandon. Harry stopped instantly as soon as he heard the snitch bang against his locked office door. I held Harry close for a couple extra seconds, so the snitch banged against the door several more times, before Harry could extricate himself from me and open the door.**

**I reopened the book to page three, as Harry sat down. He plopped the snitch onto the middle of the page and it appeared content to remain their, gently flapping its wings.**

"**Apparecium!" Nothing happened.**

"**I open at the end." Again, nothing happened.**

"**I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."**

**Writing began to appear on the page – on quite a few pages, actually. Page three bore the heading 'YEAR ONE'.**

**From the third day of term: 'James is a much more quiet and sensitive child than I had been led to believe. Clearly he had an unpleasant experience on the Express. The first years need more protection, but this is often their first chance to be around a lot of other children like themselves. Some of the strongest, most enduring friendships are forged during the first trip on that train. At least nobody has died yet, as far as I am aware. The treats lady can only do so much to maintain order. Only children of elderly parents are often shy among other children, although this had not been remarked about James. Perhaps he was seldom seen with other children before Hogwarts.'**

**From day seven – 'James has appointed himself the defender of Lily Evans. He shouted at three Slytherins who called her a filthy Mudblood. They pushed him down. Apparently he remained defiant.'**

**Day twelve – 'James went to the infirmary with bloody nose and eye almost swollen shut. He claims to have slipped and fallen. He has bruise marks on his arms, as if two students held him, while another punished his face. What is the point of prohibiting magic in the corridors, if this is the alternative?'**

**Day fifteen – 'I spoke to James. He still won't say what really happened. At least he seems to have developed some chums. Quidditch to the rescue.'**

**Day twenty – 'Severus Snape in the infirmary. Says James is responsible. Good for James!'**

**Day fifty – 'My initial impressions of James may have been in error. He is a right rapscallion, although his friends, especially Remus, egg him on. The shyness I saw has vanished. Would different friends have led to a more studious lad? Alas, Quidditch does not fix all.'**

**Day sixty-five – 'James and friends stole a restricted book. 'The Secrets of the Homonculous Charm' by Eupraxia Mole. A respectable author. Not black magic and definitely a scholarly treatise, but wholly inappropriate for first years. What were they thinking? James returned the book, but I fear he already finished it. How can he read such a book and do so poorly in charms class? He seemed overly curious of these little scribbles as I retrieved the book and delivered a fatherly admonishment that restricted books are restricted for a good reason.'**

**Day sixty-six – 'I suspect that rascal actually broke into my office and opened my desk! Testing the protective charms confirms he could not read my scribbles. I'd blame Sirius, but Lily's book also out of place. James's hand is bandaged. I think my gargoyle bit him. Let that be sufficient punishment.'**

**Day seventy – 'What is it with this incessant need to leave the castle at night? Haven't I adequately warned against the dangers of the forbidden forest and the night-time grounds? James and his friends were caught in the forest last night. Detention for all, but I am not such a fool as to allow them to serve it together. I shall have Fawkes mount a nightly watch.'**

**Day eighty-one – 'Animagi, the lot of them! This explains a lot. I shall take it upon my own head and not alert the Ministry. They are basically good lads of high spirit. I can't send them to Azkaban. I must question them as a group and make them mindful of the danger of being found out. Perhaps it is not too late to claim a new talent and register themselves.'**

**Day eighty-two – 'I pointed them to an abandoned shack and they forswore trips to the forest. I feel safer. Perhaps the Ministry need not know."**

**Day one-hundred-and-seven – 'James invented what he calls the 'dirty-rotten-knickers-down' curse, which does exactly what you might imagine. He used it upon two Slytherin third-year girls, who had taunted Lily as a Mudblood, to the hilarity of all the passing students. Lily was unamused. Another detention for James.'**

**Day one-hundred-and-thirty-six – 'James gone missing.'**

**Day one-hundred-and-thirty-seven – 'James found. Transformed into an old ferret, with wet, mud-matted fur. I guess what you would call a dirty rotten ferret. James says someone snuck up behind him. He claims no idea whom. I have a very good idea.'**

**End of term – 'James did better on his exams than I feared. He is not a stupid lad, but he sets his mind in other directions than those set by his teachers. Good to know he learned something. Hoping for a quieter second year.'**

"**I think both Professor McGonagall and I were correct," Harry told me. "These are headmaster notes, but they are also the sort of insights which will help us with our mysteries. I'm afraid to read my own book. Can we do year two, or are you too tired."**

"**I can do it if you can, but I think one more year is my limit for tonight."**

**Page twelve of the book was headed: "YEAR TWO"**

**Day one – 'James seems much older than last year. The shyness has been replaced by a confident boldness. I doubt James was hassled on the Express. This James just wouldn't take it."**

**Day Forty-two – 'James is in infirmary, as close to death as possible and still be living. Professor McGonagall found him lying in front of the Fat Lady in an enormous pool of blood. Madam Pomphrey reported 'This wasn't magic. Check the armor – this poor boy was attacked with a sword.' Why do my thoughts turn toward Severus?'**

**Day Forty-seven – 'James finally out of infirmary, but still weak. He refuses to say what happened to him, claiming someone snuck up behind him and attacked. Impossible! Madam Pomphrey assures me he was sliced from the front. Despite her best efforts, he will bear a scar from shoulder to navel.'**

**Day Fifty-four – 'James found in Hogsmeade without a pass for Hogsmeade Day. How? It's not that his parents meant to be mean to him. They just felt he was still too weak. I hate to do it, but a detention for James. Many students saw him in Hogsmeade, but only Severus reported him. Am I wrong to dislike a snitch?'**

**Day Eighty-Five – 'The Slytherin common room was vandalized. Their whole beverage supply was destroyed – they tried to clean it up, but I still smelt whiskey on a corner of the carpet and found a piece of a broken bottle. Poor magic on their part. Severus came to my office to complain that James was responsible – out for revenge he said, but refused to answer my natural question 'revenge for what?' I asked how James could possibly have entered Slytherin House. Severus doesn't know but is certain he did. James says Severus is batty and has had it out for him since their first ride on the Express. I believe James. I think I can tell when he is lying to me, plus I haven't caught him or his friends wandering at night, apart from the approved trips to the shack. It is a year since Filch caught any of them out, and Filch misses nothing.'**

**Day One-hundred – 'Voldemort has tried to recruit James and Sirius. This is the crucial point upon which the lives of these lads must turn. I can only hope that my good influence may prevail. The news comes to me from Severus. Little does he know that I know that he has already forged a personal allegiance to Voldemort. Is this a neat little double betrayal? There is a reason that I am unable to warm to that boy.'**

**Day One-hundred-and-fifteen – Oh joy! James and Sirius are in infirmary, swollen to double their normal size. I am saddened by their suffering, but this is the proof I awaited – they have turned away from the Dark Lord. I must welcome them into the light of the Order, but slowly, slowly.'**

**Day One-hundred-and-forty-five – 'I gave James and Sirius a little, inconsequential task to perform for me – a bit of spying in Hogsmeade. Yes, I know now how they elude my watches. There is little danger and less chance of harm to the Order if this little mission goes awry. An important test and my James and Sirius have passed it.'**

**Day One-hundred-and-seventy – 'I relented. James and Sirius passed their second test and I gave my permission to recruit their friends. Minerva says it is too soon for them and that I assume too much and take too many chances. I trust my gut. Perhaps she is correct about the need for more Witches.'**

**End of Term – 'James ends year two with fewer blemishes on his record. Only one detention must be counted a minor miracle. He did very well on his exams. This year I am unsurprised by that.'**

"**Time for bed, Harry."**

"**Yes, of course. I've learned most of what I wanted to learn. I have a much better view of my father. He did not attack Snape out of sheer maliciousness or uncaring. He was thoroughly provoked. Isn't it funny how Snape's great misdeed was hidden from us. What would we have thought of the man, had we known? Perhaps Dumbledore did finally turn him around, or my mother did, but the man had a rotten core. Still, that is truly brilliant for a second year. A curse for enemies, indeed. I feel better about using it on him – and on Draco."**

"**Yes, perhaps you have read all of this book that you need to read. Now, it's late. Back to Gryffindor."**

"**Ginny, why do you suppose my father was an animagus and I'm not? I think it would be more natural for me to inherit his talent."**

"**That's Neville's department, not mine. We should remember to ask him. For now, I just want to sleep. You also have to decide what to tell McGonagall about the book. It unlocked to your snitch. That means that Dumbledore wanted you to read it. I think the books are yours, not hers."**

"**They are really headmaster notes about students. That might actually make them hers. Perhaps she is also able to make the writing appear. I think I'll give my father's book back to her and ask her to try to read one of the other books. Whether or not she can make Dumbledore's writing appear will tell us a lot. I don't mind putting her to that particular test. I've proven that Dumbledore wanted me to read these files. Let her prove the same."**


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter Forty-Seven – Pieces of Dumbledore's Mind**

The next day Harry could only stay for breakfast and a quick meeting with McGonagall. She seemed very eager to meet with us.

"I read the first two years' of Professor Dumbledore's notes about my father," Harry announced as soon as the door to McGonagall's office had closed. "They told me what I needed to know, for now, about my father. I'm glad I read them. They explain a lot about my father and Snape. Things that nobody apparently thought I needed to know."

McGonagall gave an offended look and Harry pressed on in a more conciliatory mode "I didn't come here to blame you for not telling me that you found my father, nearly dead, after Snape's Sectumsempra curse. I wanted to tell you that I had carried out my end of the bargain and evaluated one of the Dumbledore files. You are correct that it is the headmaster's observations about a student. It also is useful information for the on-going struggle. I can understand your reluctance to have this sort of information shared widely. I'm sure much of it would be the stuff of blackmail and revenge attacks."

"I'm glad to see that you've come to view things my way," McGonagall was now very pleased.

"Not entirely," Harry continued. "It is clear to me that Dumbledore wanted and expected me to read the student files he left in that cabinet. Not only was it the ring which he willed to me, that was needed to open the cabinets, but I needed the snitch to make the writing appear in the book. Most, perhaps every Witch or Wizard but me, could pick up the student files and be unable to read a single word. Here is the file on my father. I don't need to read beyond the second year, for now. Keep it safe for me. Read it and form your own impression of the usefulness of this sort of material to our shared struggle. Remember that I have successfully kept many secrets and that the Minister trusts me with the secrets of state."

Harry handed her the book, as well as his mother's file.

"Thank you, Harry, your trust means a lot to me and I do not distrust you or believe you incapable of keeping Dumbledore's secrets. I just view the world from my position of Headmaster and the need to protect Hogwarts and its secrets. Was there anything else?"

"Yes, I return these files to you as a symbol that I do trust you. However, since Dumbledore left the snitch and the ring to me, I feel that out of loyalty to Dumbledore I must test your right to view these student files. My father's file is readable. As you see, the pages of my mother's file are blank, as are the pages of my file. My challenge to you is to read my father's file, but also to test another file and see if you are able to force the writing to appear. You agreed that I had a right to my mother's file. I leave it to you as a test. If you can return it to me in readable form, then I must assume that Dumbledore meant for us to share these files. If you can't, then clearly Dumbledore meant the files for me alone."

McGonagall produced the wide grin, which I associated with her cat form. She reached into her robes and handed Harry a little notebook of the same sort that he had given her.

"This is your Godfather's file. I think it safe for you to read. As you can plainly see, it was my bedtime reading last night. Clearly we are meant to share these files. I was able to make the writing appear using my wand. I don't know if anyone else could open any of these files. This has been a most useful experiment, which I interpret as an order from Dumbledore for the two of us to work cooperatively."

"Well, I guess that settles that," Harry replied as he led us out of her office.

Harry headed for the main entrance, telling me that he had to spend the whole day at the Ministry. I was sorry to see him depart so quickly. I had much that I wanted to discuss with him. I could tell that he was feeling very happy and contented. In my heart, I always knew that Harry was less happy challenging McGonagall than I was.

Unexpectedly, Harry returned after lunch with more Montaigne news. The Wizengamot had finally lost patience with Bruce's failure to submit to an unbiased medical examination, saying it seemed "highly strange that he was perfectly happy to meet with the doctor chosen by, and having close business ties to, his own family, but not with one acceptable to this body." The Wizengamot voted with near unanimity that the French Ministry's request for extradition appeared "valid and fully supported by the evidence" and demanded that Bruce "show due cause why the extradition should not be summarily granted" at a hearing to be held in two days. A defense of mental incapacity was ruled out. The Wizengamot set one condition for granting extradition: the French must pledge not to take the life of the defendant.

We had not seen Cissy since her father had stormed out of Professor McGonagall's state dinner, nor was there a Keeper lesson today. We filled the void by viewing more of Dumbledore's memories. The next vial drawn from the block recorded another Dumbledore interaction with the Montaignes. As my turn came to look into the Pensieve, I found myself tumbled into the basement courtroom that is now used to house prisoners. I found myself sitting to the left of Dumbledore as Lord Montaigne spoke to Dumbledore from his immediate right.

"Do they really have enough evidence to convict Bruce? It seems to me that Doctor Sprout merely said it was possible that an Imperius Curse was used on the boy, not that it was a certain thing or if he was cursed, that it was Bruce who did it."

A far younger Bruce was chained to the defendant's chair. He looked frightened but defiant.

"There also was testimony that Bruce was pursuing the boy," Dumbledore replied. "The boy testified that he was not interested in Bruce, that his interest ran to girls, but that Bruce wouldn't leave him alone. One of his friends saw Bruce talking to him on a Hogsmeade day, and then saw the boy departing in indignation. Later that day in a Hogsmeade sweet shop, that same friend saw the boy by Bruce's side and acting more docilely than he had ever seen him comport himself. A day later, the boy is found lying by the side of the street in Hogsmeade nearly dead and, when treated in our infirmary, his first words are that he must obey Bruce. He is taken to St. Mungo's in an almost totally confused state, but recovers after treatment for Imperius and confundus. Add that to my experiences with Bruce as a student, and I have no doubt as to his guilt."

"I need your help, Dumbledore. The Wizengamot will listen to a plea from you. I can't bear to see Bruce sent to Azkaban. You also know that you need my help. If I choose to prosecute Professor Sprout for the theft of the rare plants from my personal greenhouse, she might well find herself as Bruce's neighbor in Azkaban. She stole quite a lot of plants and they were very valuable. Some of them are in your greenhouse, others she sold to pay her father's debts. I'll forget all of that if you help Bruce. If you can convince the Wizengamot to exile Bruce from Britain instead of imprisoning him, I promise that the boy will be well taken care of and I'll support your next motion for Gringotts to begin to set up a branch in the Muggle world that can issue appropriate documentation for Wizard traders. I'll provide direct supervision of Bruce, so he causes no harm on the Continent. A fifteen year exile and a fine surely is adequate punishment. I know you to be a merciful man, please give a former student a chance to turn his life around."

"I'll speak to some members during the next break, but I must have your absolute assurance that you will keep a close enough watch on Bruce so that he gets into no more trouble. I expect that you will fully keep your end of the bargain."

The next witness was a younger Lucius Malfoy who testified "I'm very familiar with the 'victim' and have observed from time to time that he is given both to elaborate daydreams and to a subsequent belief that these daydreams are true. I've known him to hold a totally sincere, heartfelt belief in a tale that could not possibly be true. He is a good lad, but given to fits of confusion."

As I faded away from the vision, Dumbledore was speaking to the Wizengamot and asking for "leniency for Bruce, who I am well aware got into more than his fair share of problems at Hogwarts, but who seemed more confused and bedeviled by his own demons than he was irretrievably bad." Hardly a ringing testimonial.

"No wonder Doctor Sprout seems so willing to do Lord Montaigne's bidding," Hermione observed. "Sprout, Malfoy, and Montaigne certainly stick together."

Professor McGonagall loaded the next memory into the Pensieve and I leaned back against the wall, waiting my turn to view it. Harry finished his viewing in a very agitated state and stormed out of the office. I begged my way ahead of Hermione, to find out what had affected Harry so severely. This time, I emerged from my plunge into the swirling depths of the Pensieve to find myself standing next to Dumbledore in the Minister's office. Minister Fudge was seated behind his desk and Dumbledore, Madam Bones, and Lord Montaigne were standing in front of the desk and arguing furiously.

"There is no doubt that your son was illegally in Britain at the time of the death. There were witnesses who saw him. He was seen with your Land Rover in London. You knew he was here and you gave him the vehicle."

"I didn't know he was here until my care-taker told me he had taken the Land Rover. I began searching for him immediately."

"He murdered his own uncle," Dumbledore declared with certainty.

"You can't know that. The Muggle witness who claimed to see him was confused."

"The witness was confunded," Madam Bones replied. "When he was treated and then questioned by me, his story was quite clear. He described your car, he described Bruce, he even gave a partial license plate. When we checked your estate, the car in question was missing and has not been seen since."

"I agree that the case against Bruce is quite damning. He was apprehended in London. Just being there of his own free will is worth a trip to Azkaban, but I can tell you it isn't going to happen. Not because I don't want it to happen, but because I can't afford to let Montaigne here carry out his threat to prevent the correction of the magical forces. Strange failures are already happening. Yesterday the floo network failed for three hours. Two Wizards are still missing. Today, the magical protections of Diagon Alley weakened enough that four tourists from Australia wandered into Ollivander's shop, thinking they could find antique walking sticks there. As Minister of Magic, my primary duty must lie with the wellbeing and protection of the overall Wizarding community. I have no choice. I have to let Bruce go."

"You would risk the exposure and destruction of London's Wizarding community to prevent Bruce from being tried for his crimes?" Dumbledore asked Montaigne in shocked disbelief.

"He's the only son I'll ever have. My wife is too frail to bear another child and she dotes on Bruce. It would kill her if he were sent to Azkaban. Don't judge me unless you have an only son, who needs your help."

"It is becoming increasingly clear just how dangerous Bruce has become," Dumbledore answered him. "You promised to supervise Bruce to prevent his doing harm to others. This is your own brother who is dead at his hands, a brother who should hold the title that you now hold."

"I know, I know, don't you think I lose sleep over this every single night? I've tried to control Bruce, but he's proven too much for me. He is my only son and I still have hopes he will make something of his life. You had more interaction with him than I did at the time he went bad."

"If you clearly faced the truth, you'd realize he is suffering from an inherited mental illness and that he is just not going to get better. The illness naturally manifests itself when the sufferer is in the late teens. You know as well as I that 'who had how much contact with him at the time' made no difference whatsoever. I've seen this before. Several students in a thousand suffer this plight. Typically, their parents send them to St. Mungo's, where they can be properly looked after."

"I can't allow myself to believe that. You know as well as I that the chances of his ever leaving St. Mungo's are far less than even. I can't do that to my son. St. Mungo's would be just a more compassionate Azkaban for Bruce. I must allow him to find himself and right his life."

I pulled away from the Pensieve and went looking for Harry. I found him leaning against the gargoyle. It was clear that he had just stopped crying. I placed my arm around his shoulders.

{[sadness/anger] First they stole his legacy and then they killed him. And to think I was beginning to like Cissy.}

"It was a dastardly business from start to finish, but it all occurred before Cissy was born. It's not her fault. She probably doesn't even know what we know about all this, although hanging around with us is giving her clues. It's wrong to assume that she isn't as appalled by her brother's actions as we are."

{[still angry, trying not to cry again] I know I shouldn't blame her, it's just going to be hard to think of her the same way. I am certainly getting a very negative view of her father. I think Dumbledore was right that he needs to be stopped.}

"I certainly agree with you about Lord Montaigne. Has he signed the restitution papers, yet?

{[worry] Yes, but I think we had best get the Wizengamot to ratify the whole deal before the Bruce matter comes to a head. It is important that Bruce be barred from his inheritance, and that a definite date be set for Lord Montaigne to relinquish the Keeper role. Your Dad is right that Montaigne is just too dangerous. You saw the Pensieve. He's been blackmailing Ministers and King Goblanze for decades.}

Hermione and the others came down the stairs to check on Harry and I signaled that we were okay. A few minutes later, Harry apparated to the Ministry to tell Dad and Percy what we had seen and that the restitution arrangements had to be approved quickly. Harry was only gone a half hour. He said "Perhaps I should have used the cell phone. Your Dad could tell that I had been crying. I think that knocked him back a little. He said that he and Madam Bones would present the agreements in the morning. Now that your Dad is up to date, I think we really must return to Professor McGonagall's office to view more memories."

She was hesitant, but bowed to Harry's concern that with the delivery of Dumbledore's letters, the situation with Lord Montaigne might quickly come to a head, and that we needed more information to react intelligently. He clinched the deal by reminding her that she wouldn't want him to make an impetuous mistake that could be avoided by the knowledge in the remaining vials. Harry said it would go quicker if we watched in pairs, as he and Dumbledore had done, when using the Pensieve.

I dove into the next memory with Harry. We found ourselves in the forbidden forest, standing beside Dumbledore and facing Bane, Firenze, and a Unicorn.

"I lack the necessary secrets to stop Montaigne," Dumbledore was saying. "I know that King Goblanze agrees with me about Gringotts, but he won't oppose Montaigne. I know the King to be very brave and very intelligent, but he strikes me as being terrified of Montaigne. I know the Minister won't stand up to him for fear that Montaigne will somehow destroy the source of magic, but there seems to be more than that involved with the King. He has it within his power to bar Montaigne from the Sacred Cavern or at least to make certain that he is well guarded whenever he enters. I don't think Montaigne has the tools or knowledge to do great damage to the circle. He may not even be able to approach it. The King suggested he was aware of a prophecy suggesting that Bruce would not succeed his father and that the end of Montaigne control might come within my lifetime. Can any of you enlighten me on what that prophecy might be?"

"The greatest clue is not prophecy, but observation," Bane replied. "His wife unexpectedly is pregnant, so he may have an alternative to Bruce."

"I have seen the shadows of a prophecy, but it was too vague to report to any of you," Firenze began. "Perhaps I should have mentioned it, anyhow. As I told you last week about the prophecy of the celestial sky, the celestial path is about to be blocked by the star that represents the Keeper. It will drift closer to the choke point over the next dozen years. It is not clear what will happen. Either it will block the path forward and choke off all magic for decades, or it will drift away and the path will gradually broaden and clear. The shadow prophecy suggests that the new Montaigne child is the key. She is destined to block Bruce and her father, if she lives long enough to accomplish that, and if she sticks to her destiny and isn't shunted aside by pity for her family. I can tell you no more."

"This may be the long game that King Goblanze speaks of to me," Dumbledore nodded his head. "But can either of you give me a hint of what hold Montaigne has over the King?"

"I think Montaigne discovered something that would call into question the legitimacy of Goblanze's accession to King. It seems that Ruppasta Minta might have a claim to unseat Goblanze if Montaigne passed this information on to him. Ruppasta was runner up in the selection tournament. It would be unfortunate if Ruppasta succeeded, because he is unscrupulous and has dreams of Goblin supremacy. He's not all that different from Bruce in outlook."

We came up for air and awaited our turn for the next memory. This one sent us back to where we were standing, only years earlier. Dumbledore was seated behind his desk and Harry and I were standing behind Lord Montaigne, who was seated in a guest chair.

"Of course I'm very saddened by my wife's death, but the birth of a daughter gives me hope for the future. I now see a way forward apart from Bruce. A female keeper is unusual, but not unheard of. Unfortunately, finding a way of bypassing the first-born son is also not unheard of. You helped me with Bruce once, and I know I wasn't able to hold up my end of the deal and keep Bruce under wraps. If you knew how hard I tried to contain him, even arranging for the Belgian police to jail him for a month in the hope of scaring him into at least being well enough behaved to avoid future incarceration – well, let's just say if you knew everything, you would be more forgiving of my failure. I'm hoping you can help me again. I know no other way of stopping the harm that Bruce is causing than to confund him so that he forgets his dreams of power and cannot do magic. He's living in the Muggle world anyway, it seems a minor thing to have him live there as an ordinary Muggle. It keeps him out of Azkaban and keeps everyone safe."

"What is stopping you from doing that?"

"Dr. Sprout has gotten scruples. He especially doesn't like the notion of two generations of Montaigne eldest sons being shunted aside. I told Dr. Sprout that I feared Bruce murdered his own uncle and that he frightened me."

"How can I help?"

"Ask Professor Sprout to try to persuade her brother. I'm not trying to hold her old crime over their heads again. She knew Bruce as a student and knows what he is capable of. She could convince her brother to see reason."

"You know that I believe Bruce belongs in prison, but since you've blocked that with the Minister, I'll try to persuade Professor Sprout to make your case for you."

We dove back in again, this time finding ourselves in the office of the Goblin King, with Minister Scrimgouer and Dumbledore. Harry and I were lounging against the back wall as the King was showing off his drawings.

"Ruppasta thinks he should be King. Artistic talent is one of the four legs of the Leadership Tournament and Ruppasta thinks drawing is a very inferior artistic skill. He says he starts his projects with drawings of what the final sculpture will look like, before he prepares the mold for the casting. He says the drawing is the easy part. The judges told him that the quality of his planning drawings was not as fine as my drawings and that his work lacked the requisite imagination and originality. The purpose of that portion of the contest is both to display the ability to form a vision and to execute it. Ruppasta was judged superior in execution, but lacking in a consistent vision."

"So, Ruppasta thinks that the flawed decision of the judges attenuated his future?" Dumbledore prodded.

"Well, the judges' view is advisory. The voters may disregard it, but basically yes. Ruppasta felt that his art was too advanced to be appreciated, while mine was stodgy. He's tried to outdo me ever since, smarting from the judgment of that election."

"I'm not big on art, I just want to know how all of this relates to my problems," an irritated Scrimgouer interjected.

"Ruppasta has been stirring up the Giants and forming an alliance with them. He wants to take over Durmstrang and the German Ministry."

"Ah, that could be a problem."

Our next dive into the tank, so to speak, fetched us up in an impressive office that I had never seen before. Minister Fudge was seated across an impressive desk from a pudgy, fat-faced middle aged Muggle in a dark suit and red tie. The Muggle was speaking. "I know your boys think they are very clever, but the Treasury has means of detecting this sort of manipulation. The major trading firms do as well, and they have made complaints which are very difficult to ignore. I'm willing to turn a blind eye to fortune telling as a means of market forecasting, but manipulating other traders on the floor will not be tolerated. Malfoy and company skated very close to the line prior to employing Mr. Montaigne, but the present actions are too blatant and too illegal. That boy lacks any sense of finesse. You have to stop him, before he becomes an embarrassment to both of our governments."

"I would be more than happy to stop him, if I could. His father is too powerful and is sitting in the most sensitive position possible, where he can destroy the magic. He somehow controls the Goblin King and the King controls the magic. You can't imagine what the loss of magic would do to your government, as well. Britain has been very fortunate through the years. That luck could change. The right mighty Lord said I would face Muggle charges if I lifted a finger to interfere with his family. Since his wife died, the father has been nearly as unbalanced as the son. I know the boy murdered his uncle, but I'm not able to proceed on that either. I think it best for all of us if young Bruce met with an accident. You'll certainly get no objections from our government if Bruce were disappeared. Really, you could handle the father, as well."

"That would be the Prime Minister's decision. And you needn't worry about charges. There's no way this government would bring any charges based on something Montaigne came up with."

There was a lot of mumbling among the group as we waited our turn for the next voyage into the past. "… certainly can't trust any of the Montaignes,"

Ron was saying to Luna. "We still have the chance to retrain Cissy, ourselves."

It was our turn again and we were plunged into a small, dark, two-room shack of the sort inhabited by the meanest dirt-scrabble Wizard farmers. It was obviously daytime, as I could see through the small grime-encrusted window to the kitchen garden outside. Two goats were tethered to a tree to the side of the garden. I recognized a younger Trelawney and a very elderly Witch, dressed in black. There was a glass ball on the table, far larger than the ones Professor Trelawney used in class and it was glowing from some internal source. As Harry and I watched, Trelawney and the older Witch sat at the table and stared into the globe.

"This is what I wanted you to see, Trew. It has repeated every day for the past month. I hope there is still time for you to prevent the tragedy that this foretells. I had hoped you could come sooner."

"I tried. It's the busy part of term and Dumbledore has had me completely tied up on a special research project."

"See, there is a formal party in a very large, fancy room, with all manner of magical creatures. Everyone is talking happily and smiling and getting along better than Centaurs and Goblins generally do with each other, or with Wizards."

Harry and I leaned over the table to see the globe ourselves. It was far clearer than anything I had ever seen in one of Professor Trelawney's glass balls in class, almost as easily decipherable as looking into the Pensieve. The participants at the event were definitely dressed in their Ministry-formal attire and, as they moved about, it was clear that their meeting room was the Reception Hall outside the Goblin Sacred Cavern under Hogwarts. At least, it appeared to be, I really didn't know whether the other caverns holding the magical circles under London, Ireland, and Durmstrang also had reception rooms and whether or not these looked like the one under Hogwarts.

"Now watch, this is the sad part. Here it comes! I think, surely they must all be dead. They seemed such intelligent, happy creatures. You must tell Dumbledore what I have shown you!"

What we had observed was happy people talking and drinking wine and then suddenly the two pillars at the center of the cavern crumbled and the whole ceiling of the chamber collapsed. The final view was through the eyes of somebody trapped beneath the rubble, looking out a short distance along the floor in a bubble amidst the rubble at a sight of several crushed bodies and a spreading pool of blood. Then the scene went dark.

"I can see why that frightened you. I'll certainly tell Dumbledore."

As we stepped away from the Pensieve and returned to the rest of the group, Trelawney said to Harry "That Witch was my mother. She died just a few weeks after that memory was formed. She was one of the old sacred Witches who worshipped the Light Guardian. As far as I know, a reception such as shown in the vision never occurred. Dumbledore was on the lookout for it. I thought he had decided that the vision was either false or that we had preempted it. I can't understand what would have changed his mind… you know, to make him consider this particular old memory being worth passing on to you. I would have mentioned it to you, myself, if anybody had thought it had any significance."

"That is odd," Hermione agreed, "but if we are to determine why Dumbledore suddenly judged it to be important, we should try to decide when the foretold event occurred. If we could identify even one of the participants at that reception, then we could get a reasonable guess of the year that this might happen. By the way, Professor Trelawney, how long ago was this meeting with your mother, and did you recognize anyone that you saw in the ball?"

"That was nineteen years ago. And, no dear, I don't think I recognized any of the people. The vision gives a sense of being present at the event, but if you relook in detail, as Dumbledore and I did, you'll find that you see mainly torsos and backs of heads. There is one Wizard face that shows clearly for an instant, but neither of us recognized him."

"I want to take a second look," Hermione declared, "but given the timing of this vision, this might have been something that might be a possible future event that could have happened at the time of the first Voldemort war, but was prevented by some action taken by the Order." Having said that, Hermione dove back into the Pensieve and I joined her.

It would have been nice to be able to stop the vision at the point that the face appeared, but even just glimpsing it for a fraction of a second, it seemed familiar, although I couldn't place it exactly. As we popped out of the memory, Hermione said she had the same feeling upon seeing the face as I had. We thought a few minutes, but couldn't place it. Ron and Luna said they would have a try. When they emerged, Luna said "I think the face is an older version of the student that Viktor worked with when he demonstrated his secret weapon for us. I'm almost certain of that, although he is at least ten years older in the vision. Perhaps the person in the vision is his father or an older brother?"

"I suppose it could be Pavel," Ron almost agreed with Luna.

"We'll settle this," George declared, as he and Harry dove in for a second viewing. As they returned to us, Harry concluded "I think Luna is correct. I'd say the Pavel of the vision looked seven or eight years older than the Pavel whom we know."

"We're making progress," George enthused, "load in the next vision."

Harry and I dove in again and found ourselves standing right where we were, in front of the headmaster's desk. This time we were alone, except for Dumbledore, who was seated on the other side of the desk and speaking to us, but with his eyes not quite focused upon us. "I'm sure that you expected these memories to deal with Voldemort. However, Harry already knows what I know about Tom Riddle and I'm assuming that you have dealt with him. I have an earlier vial if you have not. Your big challenge now is Montaigne. The prior memories give you much of what you need to know, but let me summarize and add a few more facts. Lord Montaigne is not evil, but he is trapped in a world of delusion which he has spun to justify Bruce and the actions of Montaignes past and present. He is past reason and must be shunted aside. Bruce is pure evil.

"Cissy seems a good and malleable person. Had I not encountered the Resurrection Stone horcrux, I believe I could have prepared her to be a fine asset for our cause. That is now your job. I never learned what Montaigne is holding over King Goblanze or the Ministers of Magic. It must be very powerful, because they are brave and good beings, who are paralyzed by fear.

"I did learn why the bank stopped lending. The Blacks and Parkinsons had grown powerful enough that they dared challenge the choice for Minister of Magic, whom the long-ago Lord Montaigne and the Malfoys had selected. This split in the Slytherin ranks led to the election of a Ravenclaw. The then-Lord Montaigne was furious and vowed that the rise of the uppity London Great Families would end at once. Meanwhile, the Goblin King was feeling pressured by a Goblin manufacturer whom the bank had backed. Acting out of pique, he was happy to support Lord Montaigne, in exchange for Montaigne's support in banning loans or vaults to uppity Goblins. Since then, the only potential rival to the Goblin King has been the head of the Continental Goblins. The Goblin Kings have been wise enough to provide both sufficient autonomy and watchful supervision to prevent serious trouble. I sense Ruppasta Minta has been harder to appease than his predecessors."

Not even waiting for the others to take their turn, Harry turned to Professor McGonagall and rather imperiously demanded "again, I must see the next. I'm almost there."

"That's all I have," Professor McGonagall declared. "You can bring the next block of memories for us to explore tomorrow. We should find out more about Pavel's family and see if he has a picture of his father. If it is Pavel, then this is not a vision of something that might have happened during the first Voldemort war, even though Trew's mother had a sense of great urgency when she first viewed the vision."

"I must add," Professor Trelawney lectured, "that had you been paying attention in my class, you would remember that this form of divination can be very nonspecific as to timing. The farther in the future the diviner is looking, the less immutable that future becomes, with intervening events capable of changing it. It is a possible future which may occur, all other things being equal.

"Usually, though, when as gifted a sorceress as my mother certainly was gets such a persistent sense of urgency, that means one of two things. Either the event foreseen is imminent, or the inflection point in the flow of time at which the event is changeable is at hand. If that is true, it follows that after a twenty-year delay, we would certainly be unable to prevent this from happening. Of course, we might have prevented it nineteen years ago."

"Well, we could still make sure that such a reception is never held in the Reception Hall outside the Sacred Chamber," I logically answered her.

"I guess that's possible," she conceded.

"That's what bothers me most about that vision." Hermione began in a disconnected way that struck me as at odds with the arc of our discussion until she continued. "The third prophecy suggests that we may be the ones to convene that disastrous meeting; and that we likely do so in the next ten years, if the man in the globe actually is Pavel and our estimate of his age is correct."

"I don't understand why we would do that," Ron complained. "We know about the threat, so that is the last place any of us would ever convene a large gathering like that. How does that relate to the prophecy, anyway?"

"Well," Hermione replied, removing a copy of the third prophecy from her ever-present expandable bag, "let me read that prophecy to you and we can discuss it yet another time."

_When the most brilliant light pierces the dark_

_To herald the dawn of a golden age_

_The underground mountain shall reveal its secrets_

_And the Slayers of the dark_

_And the Mothers of the Future_

_Shall sit at the center of the universe_

_And forge a permanent Concord_

_Amongst all the creatures who think_

"That certainly says that we will convene a very important future meeting, with just the sort of impressively dressed people that we saw in the globe. The underground mountain likely refers to the Reception Hall and Sacred Cavern, and the center of the magical universe has to be the Sacred Cavern. Since only the Keeper and Goblins may enter the Sacred Cavern, the closest to that center of the universe in which we could hold that meeting is the Reception Hall. That only makes sense. Why build such a grand room other than to host just such a meeting? I'll bet that is the room where the Covenants were negotiated, signed, and celebrated. We had decided that since we couldn't possibly be expected to travel to the actual center of the universe, the prophecy must refer to Hogwarts as the center of each of our personal universes. Well, that Reception Hall is right under Hogwarts."

"I think you're correct about most of that," I told Hermione "but knowing of the vision in the globe, we could still buck tradition and hold our meeting somewhere else. Almost anywhere else, but perhaps in Hogwarts, itself. If the scene in the globe really does occur ten years from now, we'll have moved on with our lives, and they likely will no longer be centered at Hogwarts."

"Likely mine still will be," Neville commented casually.

"I think Hermione is close to an explanation," Professor McGonagall said. "The trick with prophecies is to keep worrying them and rolling them over in your mind to view them from different perspectives, as you get new pieces of information, like the vision in the globe, or as you are in a different mood. The idling mind can find insights that elude intense focus."

"Umm, I think we should follow Hermione's lead, in that case," Ron tried to worm his way back into her good graces. "We can all keep thinking about the prophecy and build on Hermione's idea. The triggering event of the prophecy hasn't occurred yet, so we have time."

"You know," I told my brother, "this last vision could explain why Dumbledore refrained from doing something to deal with Bruce permanently. That most un-Dumbledore-like stepping aside, knowing Bruce would continue on his evil way, might have averted the scene depicted in that vision."

Before the meeting broke up, Professor McGonagall said she had an important change to propose to us. "I'd like you to consider adding Narcissa Malfoy to our group and sharing at least some of the secrets of the Order and your circle with her. She was the brightest Witch in her Hogwarts class and might help us make some sense of our various mysteries. She was never truly a Death Eater, but she has met almost all of them and interacted with them enough to understand how they think. I'm convinced that we can trust her."

"No!" was Hermione's instant reply.

Harry more diplomatically replied, "This will require a lot of thought. I think we all still think of her as a Death Eater. I let her stay at my house, but she still hid Draco's wand from us. I think this has to be one of those instances when, for now at least, our circle and your Order travel separate paths. It will be tougher to share information with you, if we think you're going to pass it on to Narcissa. Perhaps we can start by just asking her suggestions on very specific issues that we all agree in advance that it is safe to disclose to her. We can see how things progress from there."

"I think that's the best that Minerva could expect, for now," Professor Trelawney was quick to interject, before Professor McGonagall, whose mouth was open, was able to vocalize her response.

Break, break, break

A long chapter, but Dumbledore had a lot on his mind. This is one of those all plot and no character development chapters. Don't expect the remaining fifty memories to be remotely as useful. These nine were the newest, the ones that Dumbledore recorded after he shifted his focus from Voldemort after Voldemort shattered himself against infant Harry. Many of the others are highly technical, relate to the scenario that Voldemort wins his war. There are some remaining nuggets, which we will get to eventually.


	48. Chapter 48

**Chapter Forty-Eight – Spelunking with McGonagall**

As we were sitting in our common room the next morning, with less than half an hour before breakfast, Harry announced a need to alter the day's schedule. "I keep thinking about the memories that we saw last night, and how fast things are moving. I fear that the conclusion of Bruce's trial will be the trigger for some bad things to start happening. That's why I thought it so important for the Wizengamot to officially approve the restitution agreements today. I want to have Lord Montaigne on record as renouncing the possibility of future heirs and closing Bruce out of the inheritance, before things get bad. I think we need to explore the entrances to the Sacred Cavern today and possibly try to get a look at the London cavern, as well. I think we should do that without Cissy, so that word doesn't travel back to Lord Montaigne. I'll phone the Minister and tell him that I won't be in this morning. I think Hermione should visit Viktor to check about Pavel and the Durmstrang cavern."

Hermione nodded yes, grabbed Ron's arm, and walked off to apparate. The rest of us, including Mom, went to Harry's office so that Harry could floo a message to Dad. Harry wrote a fairly long message, folded it, and flipped it into the fireplace. Several minutes later, a note from Dad flew out and wafted into Harry's hand. Harry, shaking his head 'no', scribbled a shorter note, chucking it into the fireplace. This time, the return came back in only a minute. No joy this time either. There was a loud "excuse me" as Mom pushed past Harry to toss her own note into the fireplace. Several minutes later, Mom had her return note.

"Arthur says it's fine if Harry spends the day exploring, and he'll join us for dinner. He was worried that the restitution vote wouldn't go as well without Harry, but I told him that he and Amelia would do just fine. He also wanted to discuss tomorrow's trial. He can do that at dinner."

We were starting to leave Harry's office, when another message was ejected by his fireplace. Harry looked upset as he read it.

"Fudge is dead. The Muggle police found his body in a quarry. He was dead for a week when they found him, but it took almost two weeks to identify him. The Muggle Prime Minister just phoned Dad. Tony apologized for the delay, but said Special Branch had just found out about the case."

"He was murdered," I declared. "He seemed a little frightened when he visited us."

"He could have just fallen into the quarry, but I think you're right that he was murdered," Harry agreed with me. "Arthur doesn't say one way or the other. Probably the Muggle police can't tell. They can't identify the signs of an Avada Kedavra."

Hermione was back in time for breakfast. She seemed upset, but not surprised, to learn of Fudge's death. "I had expected to hear from him again, long before now. This explains why we haven't seen him. I'm not sure whether it was the two long apparations within the hour or the news of the death, but as we entered the Great Hall, Hermione declared, "I'm not really sure how much I can eat. I'll mainly fill my pockets with muffins for later. Viktor says that Pavel's only brother is younger and that his father was killed by a Grindelwald supporter before Pavel was three. He promised to demand a tour of the Durmstrang Reception Hall."

After breakfast, we gave the Slytherins time to slip away to their picnic and then all followed Professor McGonagall to her office. Bill accompanied us on this expedition. Professor McGonagall felt that exploration was a fine idea. "I've wanted to show the Reception Hall to Trew and test out a few theories of my own. I'll grab the Ravenclaw ring, and I trust the rest of you have your rings." Having said that, she unlocked her desk, took out Ravenclaw's ring, and removed the booby traps from in front of the fireplace in Dumbledore's inner office. She placed the ring in the indentation within the raven icon and waited to see what happened. The fireplace slid aside and we descended to the first landing.

"Shall we try the Slytherin entrance?' Harry suggested. "I also want to make sure there aren't branches from that entrance to the other common rooms."

Professor McGonagall nodded agreement and placed her ring in the snake eye. Harry had his own ring ready, suspecting that the Ravenclaw ring would not permit entrance to Slytherin, as indeed it did not. He tried his own ring and the door slid down. "I doubt this entrance existed at the time Ravenclaw got her ring," Harry explained. "The Ravenclaw ring was passed down outside the chain of Montaigne Keepers and assistants, so they would have made the new entrances reject the old rings".

We crossed to the landing on the Slytherin side of the door and began climbing the stairs. "The Slytherin common room is well below the height of Professor McGonagall's office," Hermione explained, "so we should have a lot less than seventy-five feet to climb".

Looking up, I remarked that it looked like the normal hundred step climb to me. As we reached the top, I had indeed counted to a hundred steps: the Goblins loved symmetry. This landing was like the top of a pyramid, with stairs going down on all four sides. "Mark this spot for apparating," Harry commanded. Harry used his wand to mark the stairs we had come up and asked us all to do as strong a 'lumos' as we could, so that he could inspect the ceiling. The ceiling was about eight feet above our heads and showed no signs of an opening. Harry seemed satisfied and led us straight across the landing and down the other side.

As we were walking down the five foot wide stairs, Hermione remarked "this is almost as if we have walked up and are now walking down two sides of an underground mountain."

"Except that this whole mountain is not underground, it is inside Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall replied. "My office is forty feet above ground level and the potions lab and Slytherin entrance in the basement are thirty feet below the ground level".

At the bottom of the stairs was not a landing, but a tunnel. We followed the rock-walled tunnel for two turns and a bit more than a hundred and fifty feet until the tunnel dead-ended at a stone arch. We had followed the only route possible to this point. The only icon was the snake's head. "Wands at the ready," Harry warned. "If this is the Slytherin common room, we don't want to let the Voldemort ghost in here."

Harry applied his ring to the snake's eye and the stone door dropped into the floor. Our path was barred by green fabric. I found the bottom of the tapestry and lifted it enough to sneak under. I was in the Slytherin common room. I heard Neville's voice behind the tapestry announce that the only icon on the Slytherin side of the door was also a snake's eye. I crawled back under the tapestry and we watched the door close and then retraced our steps back to the top of the 'pyramid'. Harry marked the stairs we had just climbed with an 'S' and led us down the stairs to the right.

We went down the hundred steps to a landing, which led us to a right turn and down another hundred steps. This brought us to a landing and a tunnel to the right. There were no other choices. We followed the tunnel about a hundred feet to another stone arch. The panel beside this arch carried the full set of icons, other than the 'unicorn hole'. Professor McGonagall tried her ring in the bird's eye and the metal door slid to the side. We exited the tunnel onto a metal catwalk high above a large cavern filled with equipment. "This is the cavern where the Goblins manage the school's utilities," Hermione explained to us. "You can see a little office down on the floor and against the far wall. That's where Professor Flitwick and I went to negotiate with the Goblin supervisor."

"Should we go down?" Ron asked. "There may be an entrance from here to the reception hall, but it might be hidden and the Goblins might be upset if we go down and look around. How did you enter this cavern, when you came here before, Hermione?"

"See that door halfway along the wall to the right? That leads to a stairway up to the kitchen. The door from the kitchen is hidden inside the pantry, but didn't require a ring to open."

"Let's go back to the top of the pyramid," Professor McGonagall advised. "I'm not in the mood to explain our presence to the Goblins."

We stepped back and let the door close. McGonagall asserted that she was unwilling to walk up 200 steps and suggested that we apparate back to the top of the pyramid. We formed up in tight formation, locked arms, and Professor McGonagall transported us. Harry had a bewildered look on his face, so McGonagall pointed behind her and said "these are the last stairs we went down." Harry thanked her and marked a G at the top of those stairs, before leading us down the remaining stairs. We traveled down three sets of a hundred steps, with left turns at each landing, and then followed a fifty foot tunnel to another arch. This arch was marked only by the snake icon. Harry was reaching with his ring, but Professor McGonagall pushed his hand away. "I'd like to find out just how many of the doors my Ravenclaw ring will open," she told Harry. After her ring again failed, Harry opened the door with his Keeper ring.

"I have to give Lord Montaigne at least a little credit for fair dealing," Harry mused. "He at least seems to have provided me with a fully functional ring. Your Ravenclaw ring just isn't going to work on the snake eyes."

We stepped onto a rocky ledge, which we had to follow in single file. Bill, the auror, insisted upon 'taking the point.' Harry went second. As soon as Harry turned the first corner, he called back to us "I've been here before - this is the Chamber of Secrets. I believe you had wanted me to check for a basilisk, Professor?"

"While we're here, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have a good look around. Where did you find the basilisk, before?"

"We have to go all the way to the end of this cavern and then there is a door seal that leads into what, at the time at least, was the basilisk's lair. I didn't see the creature until Riddle opened the seal. Of course, it must have had some other way out and into the plumbing, so we had best be on our guard. Wands ready and prepared to apparate back to the top of the pyramid. If we keep following this ledge, I think we'll soon be at a wide spot, where we could launch the secret weapon if we had to. I don't know whether that would stop a basilisk or not."

We kept moving along the ledge and soon found ourselves at a ramp down to the floor of the cavern. About forty feet ahead was the door seal that Harry had mentioned. As we walked toward the seal, I recognized the spot where I had nearly died. Harry climbed up to the seal. "I don't know if it requires Parseltongue to open the seal, or if there is a place where my ring will do the job. Riddle used Parseltongue. It's strange to have the Voldemort and Montaigne tales coming together here at the doorstep of the basilisk."

"I might choose a stronger word than strange," the Professor replied. "Nor has it escaped my notice that a Slytherin student with an assistant Keeper ring could go from their common room to the Chamber of Secrets. Tom Riddle likely did just that. They had access to the basilisk, while a headmaster with the Ravenclaw ring did not. I wonder if Dumbledore was aware of this backdoor from Slytherin into the Chamber of Secrets."

"Suspicious is the word that I'd choose," Luna piped up," and I'm wondering whether Draco and his friends have followed this route."

"This part of the cavern seems empty," Bill announced. "I think you ought to prepare your secret weapon, before you try to open the seal."

"We're ready," George said, as he and Luna knelt side by side on the platform to Harry's right.

"We'll be ready in a moment," Neville added as he and Mom moved to a corresponding position on Harry's left.

"We're right behind you," Hermione added. If something goes wrong, you and Bill should just drop to the ground and we'll fire over top of you."

I moved beside Harry, just in case, as he swept the illuminated tip of his wand all around the seal, looking for a receptor for the ring.

"I think it's the eye of the big snake statue," I whispered to Harry.

{[a little frightened/excited] I'm going to climb up to the eye and try to open the seal. I'll jump clear to the side if anything goes wrong. Get back behind Ron and Hermione. I won't be able to link up with you in time for a secret weapon launch. If things go wrong, I'll apparate back to you.}

Harry fit his ring in the snake eye, but nothing happened. Harry gave a shoulder shrug and started to climb down, but then the metal seal opened. Harry climbed the rest of the way down and walked to the front of the opening to join Bill. I joined the two of them, saying "Let's throw balls of light as far into the lair as we can." We each did this and most of the lair was illuminated. It was a cylinder eight feet in diameter and about fifteen feet long. It appeared to be empty.

"I'll go in, the rest of you stay on guard," Bill ordered, in full protective mode. "If I run into trouble, my first reaction will be to apparate to the top of the pyramid. If that fails, I'll run back out and dive to your right. That will give you a clear shot at anything that's chasing me." Bill lit his wand as brightly as he could and made his way into what was really a very smooth and dark tunnel. "There are little bones crunching underfoot", he reported, "but nothing behind the seal or further on. I'm going to check for another opening at the far end. I'm also looking for eggs or infant basilisks, but just finding droppings. I'm at the rear wall and there is another one of those granite control panels. I see a snake icon, the fancy ring, and that's all. No it's not. There is another panel farther down, at my knees. It has a little Elf icon on it."

"Harry and I are coming in to try our rings," Professor McGonagall announced. "Same escape protocol as Bill described earlier. For us, Harry, that is try to apparate and then run back through the seal and dive to OUR LEFT."

"I had figured that out, but reminders don't hurt," Harry replied. He joined Professor McGonagall and Bill at the rear wall of the lair. McGonagall's ring did not work; Harry's ring did work.

"You all have to see this," Harry called to us as he, Bill, and the Professor made their way past the rear seal. I was first through the lair and saw what Harry meant as I reached the rear seal. The roof of the little chamber beyond the seal disgorged a dozen large drain tubes, each a foot and a half across. I called over my shoulder as I saw the direction the effluent was taking, "watch your footing, the floor is wet and it slopes down to a three foot diameter hole on the left." I clung to the right hand wall as I followed Harry and Bill around the sporadic flows of sewerage to a set of stairs on the far side of the plumbing. I had no choice but to follow Harry and Bill up the stairs, otherwise the others would have no place to stand.

These stairs were different than the others we had traversed. They were only two and a half feet wide and much less steep, only six inches up per step and a little over two feet in length for each step. They also had a barely finished surface, and the roughly finished ceiling was a scant six feet above the stairs. I couldn't help thinking this stairway was designed for a basilisk's ease of use, although it also was reasonably suited to a Goblin or Elf. It was, however, the same hundred steps up and then I found myself disgorged into a tunnel, which was about three and a half feet wide with a six foot ceiling.

It was difficult walking for Bill, who stands a bit over six feet. We walked along the tunnel, with only the light of our wands to guide us. The tunnel had a very moldy smell and the surfaces were moist and a little slimy. Fortunately, the tunnel was almost flat, so we were able to maintain our footing. Still, the place gave me a bad feeling and I had to force myself to keep moving forward. I would have felt better, had I greater confidence that we would be able to apparate away from here, if necessary. It had all too much the sense of being seconds away from a live burial. After I had taken at least a thousand steps, the tunnel widened a little and the height increased to about seven feet. The walls also seemed a bit more finished and less wet. These little improvements lightened my mood considerably.

"Do you see any end to this tunnel?" George called ahead.

"No, it is just dark in front of the range of our wands," Bill called back. "I think we are beginning to slope upward, however."

I started counting my steps, to at least give a sense of progress. I made it to twelve hundred and fifty three, that is in addition to the more than a thousand before I began counting in earnest, when Bill called back to us, "I see stairs ahead of us."

These stairs were steeper than the Goblin standard leading to the Reception Hall, about a foot high and a foot deep. There was a narrow stone ledge, which could be used as a steadying hand hold. It was another hundred steps up and then we were blocked by a narrow stone arch. Harry's ring opened this and the door swung outward. We found ourselves in what appeared to be a narrow cave and moved toward its mouth, about a hundred feet ahead of us. The cave widened inside its mouth, so that six of us could stand abreast looking out from a hillside about two miles to the north of Hogwarts.

"This is the back door to end all back doors!" Ron declared. "We should mark this spot in our minds if we ever need to apparate here to find a way back into Hogwarts. I wonder how many Slytherin students have left Hogwarts by this route and how many of them knew how to apparate, whether or not they had passed their test."

"Agreed," Harry replied "I just want to check what the closed door looks like from this side". He swung it shut and it closed with a clang, as some metal lock fell into place. The seam where the door was barely showed, even when I looked for it. Surveying the surface of the wall beside the door, Harry saw what looked like a very old, very crude carving that might have been a snake. He put his ring where the eye would have been, had it still shown at all, and the door lock popped loose. Grabbing a protruding rock allowed the door to be pulled open. Harry closed the door again and did his best to further conceal the seam and eliminate our footprints. "Let's apparate back to Professor McGonagall's pocket at Hogwarts and get lunch. We haven't even begun to explore the part of the passages that I was most interested in. I wanted to take the path to the old Gryffindor. I also still suspect that there is an entrance into Ravenclaw from some point."

We ducked back to Gryffindor to change to drier and cleaner clothes, before heading down to the Great Hall for lunch. Professor McGonagall had alerted the staff that she had spent the morning hiking and climbing and intended to spend much of the afternoon doing the same, so she expected a hearty and relaxing lunch. The house Elves, who had already heard rumors and in fact seen drafts on Hermione's desk of the planned bill to grant their freedom, fully rose to the occasion. They served us whole-grain spaghetti with marinara and meat sauce, freshly grated parmesan cheese, garlic bread, and a delightful salad of romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, yellow pepper, Feta cheese, and Italian dressing. We had big glasses of Chianti to wash it all down. Professor McGonagall believed in carb loading for an active day. Fortunately, Cissy was still staying with her father while he got over his snit, and the Slytherins had taken advantage of the nice day to take a picnic lunch out to the lake side. Unfortunately for Draco and Pansy, it was a picnic for three.

We took advantage of our aloneness to engage in substantive discussion. As we had come in to lunch, I asked Harry to draw Professor McGonagall aside. "I know that I begged you to not tell Neville about the prophecies, so that he wouldn't think they were the reason he got the professorship," I began, "and I think you were really kind to take my concerns seriously, but now that Dumbledore has more or less let the secret out, I think it is time to share the prophecies with Neville. He'll see the third prophecy this afternoon when we go into the Reception Hall, anyway, and it will be less awkward if he knows the other two. It will also give Neville the opportunity to help us decipher all of the prophecies."

"I quite agree," was all Professor McGonagall responded, but as we were served our salad, she announced, "It is time for all of you to know, but not to reveal to the Slytherins, the three newest prophecies that we have become aware of. You've all seen a lot of secrets this morning. There are even more to see this afternoon. The first two prophecies were told to me by Professor Trelawney while she was in a trance state. We believe that they pertain to Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, their future children, and Professor Longbottom. I'm going to ask Professor Trelawney to reveal these prophecies to you."

Professor Trelawney did exactly that, which set the stage for a lot of discussion and questioning of the possible meaning of these prophecies. "I've thought that 'underground mountain' was a mondegreen for 'Gunter Gran Montine' and that Professor McGonagall simply misheard what Professor Trelawney said," Hermione reported. "Now I'm not sure we didn't spend much of the morning going up and down the underground mountain."

"That's very possible," Neville surmised. "We've been up and down the pyramid, but we have no idea what, if anything, is inside it. Is it just a big mass of volcanic rock that was left as the solid support when the stairs and caverns were carved from the surrounding rock, or are there secrets lurking within the heart of it?"

"It'll be great to have your help in solving the riddles," Hermione chirped. "I'm sorry we didn't fill you in earlier."

"That's alright," Neville pardoned her. "My role in the prophecies doesn't arise for a number of years. How long have these prophecies been known?"

"Since about the second week after the battle of Hogwarts, but Professors McGonagall and Trelawney knew of them earlier, as did the Goblins, Centaurs, Unicorns, and at least one of the Montaignes," Harry replied. "Obviously Dumbledore knew at least part of the story over a year ago, so they are at least that old."

"That's really terribly irresponsible then, isn't it?" Neville replied.

"I agree, perhaps we should have told you sooner," Harry apologized. "We thought we should keep it secret for a few months for your own good, until you got settled in as a new professor."

"Not you. I think you probably did the right thing. I've watched for years as you struggled to come to terms with prophecy and fate, and I was glad not to be in your shoes. I would have been happier if Dumbledore hadn't let the secret out to anybody, including me, until I had established myself as a professor.

"What I meant is that it's terrible that, knowing how Harry figured in these two key prophecies, Dumbledore sent him to his death in the forest. That was an awfully big leap of faith for Dumbledore to believe that Harry would survive. Extremely risky, if you ask me. Irresponsible."

"Yes," replied Professor McGonagall. "Dumbledore gave full rein to his hunches. I think he felt stopping Voldemort was the top priority and the rest would sort itself out later. He may have seen the fact that Harry seemed to appear in the later prophecies as some sort of celestial assurance that Harry would survive his encounter with Voldemort. There are many conversations that I'd love to have with Albus."

"What about the third prophecy?" Luna asked.

"Professor Firenze told us about that one," Harry replied. "Hermione copied it down."

Hermione read the prophecy to our group. She also mentioned the Montaigne prophecy and was about to read from her notes, when Harry stopped her.

"It's better that you learn of it as we did," Harry replied. "It's carved on a marble table top in the Reception Hall that we'll visit this afternoon. Seeing it displayed, as Lord Montaigne must have first been shocked to see it, greatly increases the impact. I think you'll recognize the Reception Hall from Dumbledore's stored memory that we watched yesterday."


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter Forty-Nine – Spelunking with Harry**

After lunch we apparated back to the first landing down from the Dumbledore fireplace and walked down to the second landing and the Gryffindor arch. Harry said "I have a theory, which I'd like to test, if you'll permit me to try my ring first." As Professor McGonagall nodded for him to proceed, Harry tried his ring in the gryphon eye. He waited, but the door did not budge. Next, Professor McGonagall applied the Ravenclaw ring to the eye. After a short wait, she was rewarded as the door dropped into the floor. "I had a sense that Lord Montaigne had been unable to open this door," Harry explained. "I suspect this is a very early route, predating the pyramid paths."

With our experience in the dark tunnels this morning, we had brought several extra wands, so that the two leaders of our parade could light our path with a double 'lumos'. Bill insisted upon again taking the point and Harry and I followed him. "Given the behavior of the rings and the lack of a snake icon, I'm not expecting baddies ahead," Bill assured us, but then ruined the good feeling by adding, "the real danger will be cave-ins. Nobody make loud noises that could collapse the ceiling upon us, although I admit the rock looks very sturdy here. My main concern is what we will find as we approach the ruins of the stables. The tunnel may well have been collapsed deliberately as a security precaution. That's certainly what I would do, were I in charge of demolishing the stables."

Beyond the door, we passed through about a thirty foot tunnel and then came to stairs. We climbed the stairs, a hundred steps as always, to a standard landing. This landing led to another tunnel straight ahead and a stone arch to our left. The rose granite panel to the left of the arch contained only two icons: the Ravenclaw diadem circle and the Peverell eye. "I thought there must be access to at least Ravenclaw," Harry exulted, one of his theories being seemingly born out. "Let's check this out, before we try the tunnel, "I'll try my ring first." Harry's ring proved as ineffectual as it had on the first arch. McGonagall stepped up to the head of the parade and opened the door with the Ravenclaw ring.

We walked through a fifteen foot tunnel to come to what had the appearance of a landing, with the stone smoothly surfaced and polished, standard landing dimensions, and even a bench. There was a circular depression in the center of a six-inch square rose granite panel on the wall to the right of the 'landing', where the application of Professor McGonagall's ring produced fairly bright lighting. Bright enough to reveal a marble statue in the right hand corner of the wall, through which we had entered the landing. As we examined the statue, it was clearly a depiction of Headmaster Ravenclaw, herself, with a golden diadem resting upon the statue's head and turquoise insets, to give the impression of piercing blue eyes. I looked closely, and the eye sockets seemed to be widened, with a small channel in the stone across the bridge of the nose. In my mind I was certain, although I did not voice my suspicion: this statue had once worn the octagonal glasses which we had seen in the Ravenclaw portrait in the Reception Hall.

"What do you think, Professor," Hermione asked, "is this the genuine Ravenclaw diadem, or a copy? If this is real, then what was the diadem which we found and was then destroyed by the Wizard's fire. Can there be two true diadems of Ravenclaw?"

"I'm not sure there is any way of telling, apart from actually wearing it and seeing if it increases comprehension or knowledge retention from studying difficult material. We'll bring it with us and perform the experiment. Certainly if an artisan Witch or Goblin had the necessary knowledge to create one diadem of Ravenclaw, it would be an easy matter to create a second one. They could both be fully functional. Clearly, you found the one which was a horcrux. That seems the most important point."

"We can also check it out with the Flamel device," intuited Ron.

"Meanwhile, on to exploration," Harry urged us, indicating the stone arches ahead and to our left.

The arch to the left had a single icon: the Peverell eye. As with all the doors along this path, Professor McGonagall's ring worked and Harry's did not. The door opened downward and we found ourselves looking into a room about twenty feet long and nine feet wide, with a three foot path down the center and the rest chockablock full of stored things. Some covered with sheeting, others just stood there. Lights had come on as the door vanished, so we had quickly assessed the room as a storage area, despite the incongruous grandeur of the floor and walls finished in smooth grey-toned marble. The twelve-foot-high ceiling was polished white marble, with a shallow brass and crystal chandelier from which the light poured. Straight ahead of us, at the end of the three-foot wide path, was another stone archway.

We walked to the far archway, turning to see that the arch through which we had entered was flanked on both sides by statues, occupying a three-foot deep clear space at that end of the room, before the storage began. "Let's at least check out the statues, before we try the other archway," Harry suggested.

"I think you should look at the statues," Professor McGonagall replied. "They're detailed life-sized stone portraits of the Hogwarts founders, crafted by Rowena Ravenclaw. She also made the other statue we saw as a self-portrait."

As we turned around to retrace our steps, we followed Professor McGonagall to the statue on the right side of the arch. We didn't need the gold plate on the plinth to recognize the life-sized marble figure as Godric Gryffindor. He carried an actual wand in his left hand, while the positioning of his right arm and hand suggested that the statue had originally held the Sword of Gryffindor. The detail of the sculpture, especially about the face, was extremely fine and despite the long beard and longer hair, enough wrinkles were shown for us to realize that Gryffindor was depicted as a very old Wizard. Certainly more aged than Dumbledore, when last we had seen him.

"I want to test the wand, later," Harry informed us, as he wiggled it from Godric's cold, dead hand and inserted it inside his robes.

"This is quite interesting," Professor Trelawney interrupted our thoughts, as she examined the statue on the other side of the arch. "It's Igor Peverell, complete with paraphernalia." We tore ourselves away from Godric to examine what Professor Trelawney had discovered. "See on the identifying plate: it identifies the statue as Igor Peverell, but in smaller, fainter script it says 'sculpted by Rowena Ravenclaw." Harry interrupted his cursory examination of Igor to check out the plate on the other statue closer up. In fact, he knelt on the floor and removed his glasses, squinting to make out the faint script.

"It says sculpted by Rowena Ravenclaw," Harry reported back to us. Harry rejoined us in our examination of the Peverell statue. He was the first to comment "assuming Rowena made these statues life-sized, Igor Peverell was both a much shorter and slighter man that Gryffindor."

"Peverell would have been about normal size for a Wizard of his era," Professor McGonagall explained. "Godric Gryffindor was unusually large, reputedly a hand over six feet and very muscular from wielding his sword. Most Wizards fought strictly with wands, but Godric was more prone to use his sword."

"How did you know that Ravenclaw had made the statues?" I asked Professor McGonagall.

"As the first Witch to be headmaster, and with very few Witches following her in that role, Rowena called for my attention from the misty depths of history," Professor McGonagall responded. "I've made a point to read anything that I could find that touched upon her life. I knew that she had made life sized statues, which were so detailed that she called them stone portraits, of all of the founders, with the exception of Slytherin, whom she felt had betrayed their school. The statues were finished shortly before the deaths of the founders; upon their death, certain artifacts, which were unique to their persons, were placed upon their statues."

I took a closer look, nudging to the front of the circle so that I could assess the paraphernalia to which Professor Trelawney had alerted us. The statue was wearing a real Wizard's hat, bent over at the peak and with a hole in front, two thirds of the way down, where the lingering traces at the edge that hadn't been fully excised revealed that someone had surgically removed the Peverell eye that had originally adorned the hat. He wore a black cloak, slung across his shoulders and hanging down his back, secured in front by a silver clasp. Centered in the clasp was a clear crystal, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, bearing the Peverell eye in the center, drawn in crimson. He had a ring, looking very like the ring carrying the Resurrection Stone, on his left ring finger. In his right hand was a wand which looked almost a facsimile of the Elder Wand.

"I feel like a guilty grave robber," Harry apologized, "but I feel impelled, as by fate, to test these artifacts. I'm just going to borrow all the paraphernalia for some testing. It feels like I'm stripping and desecrating the corpse of a noble leader, but I really think it has to be done," Harry declared more firmly than I thought he felt.

I was standing a few feet away and able to pick up his mood and message if I concentrated {[unease/curiosity] I hope I'm doing the right thing, Ginny. I have a sense these things were left here for the right people to discover and use in time of need. This is certainly a time of need. I hope we qualify as the right people.}

My reception of Harry's thoughts was interrupted by the realization that Professor McGonagall was speaking to us "…alright Harry. These things were saved, rather than being thrown out or destroyed, for a reason. I agree that we need to determine that reason. We need all the help we can get from the Ancient Greats of this school."

Harry carried the treasures with him to the other archway. As we approached that archway, I realized that the clutter of storage ended three feet from the end of the room and that there was a good-sized horizontal display case on either side of the archway. Professor Trelawney had moved to the display case on the right of the arch. It was nearly three feet wide by two feet deep and was constructed of dark wood with a clear, nearly flat, crystal top.

"There's a single page of parchment displayed here. It's about two feet long by a foot high. I think I can read what it says. It is remarkably well preserved for such an old and ornate illuminated manuscript." She read aloud to us:

_A Testament upon the Founding of the New Gryffindor House_

_The philosophical differences that have divided the founders of this school remain, but we have realized that the circumstances of a Wizard's birth and parentage are the least of these differences. Differences of birth are no excuse for the horrors visited upon the poor Gryffindors, in perversion of Godric's dream. We hold that all Wizards are equal, regardless of parentage. For that reason, we jointly proclaim the wrongness of segregating the young Muggle-born students in a separate house and consigning them to the stables. For that reason, we choose to combine the old Gryffindor House with the present Peverell House and to house it within the castle proper, in the present enlarged quarters. Let Godric's dream be fulfilled. In honour of our dear friend Godric, in the last throes of his lingering illness, and of the achievements of the Muggle-born students and graduates, this combined House shall henceforth be known as Gryffindor._

_In the end, we have realized in our old age that our differences lie primarily in our views of immortality. Slytherin has chosen to go his own way, forsaking the Original Covenant and continuing his pursuit of artifices to cheat death. We fear these artifices have done little but diminish his soul. Godric seeks immortality in the tales of his courage and compassion, which I suspect will pass down the ages of Wizard history. Rowena seeks immortality from the pleasure that her sculpture and writings will give to future generations of Wizards and in the continued study, use, and passing on of the knowledge into the human soul and sphere of the arts which she has been privileged to discover and create. Igor is devoted to the advancement of Wizard understanding and control of the natural realm and feels that his immortality lies in the use and advancement of that knowledge by succeeding generations. My immortality lies in my family and my dear Hufflepuff graduates, who are all as close as family, and my undying belief in the mercy and protectiveness of the Light Guardian. Despite our differences, we four agree that our truest immortality shall come from our students and the students whom they will teach, as this school continues about its task of preparing young Witches and Wizards to face and advance the future. The four of us are also joined in our sadness that our dear old (former) friend and associate Slytherin is unable to share this simple vision upon which our school was originally founded._

_Recorded by Hilda Hufflepuff_

_7 June 1469_

"Let's see what the other cabinet has to tell us," Luna suggested, slipping away from the crowd to stand in front of the second display case. She read the enclosed parchment manuscript to us:

_An explanation is in order for whoever has discovered this chamber. I regret the need to secrete the writings and artifacts of our founders away from the students and faculty whose minds and lives they should shape. What you find here is the essence of our founders. This chamber has been cut off from the original Peverell commons room as a storage place for the honoured memories of the two original Houses and their illustrious founders. Slytherin and the Lord Montaigne have run amok and threaten the principles upon which this school was founded. Only Igor Peverell remains of the original founders and his failing strength can no longer oppose them. It is at his direction that I have created this chamber and inscribed this text. I humbly bequeath the contents of this chamber to those of a future, kinder age, who hopefully will restore this school to what it was intended to be. The conjunction of Hogwarts and the Covenant has proven to be as much of a curse as a blessing. The duty to defend the magical creatures is both my highest calling and leagues beyond my grasp. I hope these artifacts provide the same wisdom to their next discoverer as they have provided to me. I cannot tell you how much I regret that the obsession of several evil persons with the Hallows forces all mention of the noble Peverell to be expunged from view within his own House and school. Such are the days in which we live. Blessings of the Light Guardian to the unseen future hands that will take up my burden._

_Mycroft White, student and friend of the founders_

_11 July 1477_

"I guess he meant us to make good use of what we've found here," Harry declared. "We'll need to study the things stored here. I think this gives Hermione the research project she's been seeking, not that Dumbledore didn't leave enough to occupy all our minds. Still, I believe that we should continue our explorations before starting that examination. These artifacts are likely of less immediacy than the things which Dumbledore left for us."

Harry moved to the archway, which carried both the Peverell and Gryffindor icons. He tried both his rings. The Montaigne ring had no effect, but the door swung inward to the touch of the Peverell ring. Harry stepped back to allow the door to close and stepped aside so that Professor McGonagall could test her ring. It also opened the door. This time, we stepped through the archway into our own common room.

As we sat down to take a rest, I said to Harry "I can tell by the way your arm and side have vanished from sight that what you are carrying is a true Peverell invisibility cloak. Since the ring opened the door, it likely is the same ring that Peverell was wearing in the portrait within the Reception Hall. How does the wand seem to you?"

"Let me test it on simple magic." Harry used the wand to lift me off the floor and to transfigure my broom into a straw hat and back. "I'd say it works quite well. I don't want to test it with an attack or protective spell. I'm sure Hermione has some really complicated books. Why don't some of you test the diadem, while I experiment with the Godric wand?"

Hermione took the diadem and placed it on Luna's head. "Here is my arithmancy text. Why don't you start reading it and see how easy you find it to comprehend, while wearing the diadem."

I looked up to find Harry and Ron misbehaving. "I can't believe you're going to engage in a demonstration duel with a replica Elder Wand and the Godric wand, right in the middle of our common room."

"Only simple, non-lethal spells," Ron promised as he shouted 'expelliarmus' at Harry. The 'Elder Wand' went flying across the room. Harry returned the favor to Ron, with equal effect, as the Godric wand ricocheted off the ceiling.

Although my warning had produced no impact, Mom's shouting "that's quite enough of that in here" brought the horseplay to an end. The two of them contented themselves testing the wands with 'lumos', 'leviosum', and various, increasingly complex, transfigurations. Mom prevented them from trying to transfigure Cruikshanks, an attempt which also brought an indignant Hermione to Ron's side. That ended the wand play.

"I can say at a minimum that they both appear to be very fine wands," Harry appraised their performance.

"I definitely agree," Ron concurred. "I think we have two quite special wands here. That leaves me with three questions. Was the Sorting Hat supposed to be a part of the Deathly Hallows? Why are there two copies of the Hallows? Was there supposed to be anything special about Gryffindor's wand?"

"I don't know, Ron," Professor Trelawney replied. "The answer to those questions is likely among the articles stored in that room. You'll all have to work at slowly sorting through them. It's very exciting to me. A big hole in Hogwarts' history is about to be filled in. For those of you with a view toward teaching at Hogwarts, writing a good book on what you learn would certainly make you a very attractive candidate to teach here."

Luna concluded that the diadem seemed to greatly improve her comprehension of the difficult text. Hermione suggested, "I'm going to ask Mom to wear the diadem while she reads the first year books. I know how fast she's been able to handle them and that will both give me a very solid benchmark and increase her chances of starting the new term as a second year. I'm really proud of how much progress she's made thus far."

"Back to exploration?" Harry implored us.

"That's fine," Bill replied, "but some of these artifacts might be dangerous if they fell into the wrong hands. I think you should carry them, as they may enhance your own powers. I'd like to pair up the two Elder Wands, but I know Harry has hidden the first one. There is a danger of forming unequal pairs, so I'm going to suggest that Ron take the second Elder Wand and Hermione takes the Godric wand. That is about as equal as I can make it. That means Ron should carry the Peverell cloak and ring and wear the funny hat. I say that realizing that I'm cavalierly giving away what may be part of Harry's Peverell legacy, so I'm probably out of line."

"No, that's fine," Harry reassured him. "I want Ron to have them."

"Thanks mate. Now let's go exploring. Can I just put the funny hat in my pocket for now?"

"I think that would be fine, Ron."

We went back to the arch leading out of our common room, observing the wall to see how the portal looked from the common room side and why we hadn't discovered it before. The entrance to the storage room was hidden behind a section of wall paneling. It took Ron and professor McGonagall a lot of trial and error with the rings until they discovered a particular knot in the wood of the paneling which caused the door to open. We went through the door and noticed that Harry wasn't with us. He came through a minute later, holding in a handkerchief the Resurrection Stone ring that Dumbledore had given him.

"I just want to see if this will open the door. I was going to give it to Bane to hide, but hadn't made it back to the forest." Harry held the Resurrection Stone up to the Peverell eye and the door to the Gryffindor common room once again swung open. "So both rings work. I thought that might be the case. Before we try the archway that should lead into the Ravenclaw common room, I have one more thing to try."

Harry walked up to the Rowena Ravenclaw statue and placed his ring in her right eye. A portion of the wall in back of her slid up, and lights came on in the large room beyond.

We all walked through the portal and found ourselves in a room that looked like a gallery in a Muggle art museum. The room was about twenty by forty feet in size, with a twelve foot high ceiling, from which six chandeliers sprouted. All of the walls were covered by drawings, oil paintings, and what Hermione said were etchings. There were a dozen statues, in marble, alabaster, and bronze, in the middle of the room, as well as two horizontal display cabinets toward the far end. I headed for the cabinets, knowing they had been a valuable source of information in the storage room. The first cabinet that I approached did, indeed, hold a parchment. I called the gang over and read the parchment to them.

_All of the objects of art displayed in this little museum were created by the students and faculty of Hogwarts. Some date to the time of Rowena Ravenclaw. It is with sadness that I perform the headmaster's bidding and hide away these treasures. Lord Montaigne says that art is a trivial and wholly frivolous pursuit of Muggles, who are either too wealthy to work or willing to live in squalor to dabble with art. He says there is no place for art at Hogwarts or among the rigors and hardships of Wizarding life. I agree that it is best that these things be hidden away, rather than destroyed as the Lord commands. Don't blame the headmaster. It was comply or lose his position to another who would have less regard for learning. Hiding away these treasures is my last duty as Professor of Art, a position that is no longer required at Hogwarts. Hopefully these treasures will be preserved for discovery at a time when Wizards once again appreciate beautiful things. If you find these, I ask that they be proudly displayed around the school, as once they were in better times. When you gaze upon them, understand that what your forebears once could do, you also can learn to do. I pray that I am not the last Professor of Art to walk the halls of Hogwarts._

_Phineas White_

_24 August 1611_

Luna walked over to the second display cabinet and read its parchment message.

_This cabinet contains copies of the better poetry written over the years by students of Hogwarts. You will find another collection of fine Wizard composition in all genres hidden within a secret closet accessed from within the school library. The Ravenclaw ring will grant you access. I regret to conclude that writing has become as useless and frivolous as art in the eyes of the governors of this fine school. I go to join Phineas in search of other employment. I have a heavy heart as I think of what future students will miss._

_Hanelore Hufflepuff_

_12 June 1612_

Hermione had been exploring the paintings and drawings on the walls, in the company of Professors McGonagall and Trelawney. I heard her exclaiming "Some of this art is really very good. My parents took me to the National Gallery every other Sunday and the best of this art compares quite well with what I saw on display there."

"Why am I not surprised to learn that Hermione spent every other Sunday at the museum?" George asked us, but Luna gave him an elbow in the ribs before he could continue or we could answer."

"I've only been to the National Gallery once," Professor McGonagall replied, "but I agree that this work is good. I wonder why anyone would be so crass as to insist that the students stop these endeavors. Clearly, our Lord Montaigne is the true descendant of his forebears. This does suggest to me, however, whom I should recruit as my Hufflepuff Professor. I know a young Witch, who graduated eight years ago, who actually paints and sculpts. I'll have to look her up."

As I roamed the gallery, hand-in-hand with Harry, which allowed for instant and effortless sharing of our views of the skill and aesthetic sense of each artist, I suddenly was struck by the uniformity of the subject matter and messaged Harry. Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm now able to do this, providing we are strongly touching, as with clasped hands.

{{All the drawings, paintings, and etchings are of Hogwarts, mostly of the buildings. It is striking that there is nothing from outside the school and that there aren't any portraits. The school seems to have taught only landscape and architectural drawing and painting.}}

{[intensely interested] Yes, but the drawings and paintings of the buildings are very detailed and very well done. Look at the big painting of the Hogwarts Castle in the middle of this wall.}

I dragged myself away from a very detailed drawing of the stables, puzzling over the signature of Ethelred Gryffindor, to turn my attention farther up the wall to a six foot wide by four foot high oil painting that had caught Harry's eye.

{{I see what you mean. The castle is short and squat, but with much the ground-floor shape of our Hogwarts. It looks like the general outline of our school, but the central part is only one story high and the surrounding wings are only two stories high.}}

{[excited] Yes, this painting must be from the very earliest days of the school. The castle has been added onto since and now has a more exotic look, with all the towers, turrets, and spires. The original castle would have been easier to defend. That is an interesting triangle sticking up in the center of it. Look at the signature, it's signed 'Mary Trelawney'.}

{[Intrigued and now sensing that he had trumped me] Around the corner on the next wall, I see a portrait.}

I was so caught up in Harry's excitement and my determination to show that he hadn't really proven me wrong, that I bypassed the last three drawings on our current wall and went right to the corner of the next wall. I could see how I had missed this portrait: it was mounted smack up against the adjoining wall, so that Harry could see it from where he had been standing, but his body had blocked my view of it. This painting was only a foot and a half in width and two feet tall and was basically unframed. It depicted a thin young girl, with a long, narrow face and long blonde hair. Her mouth was half open in a laugh and she had an extremely mischievous look about her. The thing that startled me, drew my close inspection, and caused me to yell "Hermione, come quick," was that her intense green eyes were magnified by octagonal thick-lensed glasses, that appeared to be a match for those we had seen in the Ravenclaw portrait in the Reception Hall.

Hermione was soon at my elbow, demanding to know why I had summoned her. I just pointed at the portrait. Hermione studied the painting in silence for a full two minutes and then gave us her appraisal. "Did you notice that the painting is signed 'the acolyte'? A strange way to sign a class project. You are correct that this is a student, she is wearing school robes. But, you can see…"

"Have you students found an interesting painting?" Professor McGonagall inquired. "Ah, yes a portrait of the young Rowena Ravenclaw, probably a self-portrait. She enjoyed painting as a girl."

"I don't really like this nearly as well as her sculptures," Hermione told Professor McGonagall. "It's interesting having a portrait added amidst a sea of Hogwarts landscapes, but although it is very cheery and different, I prefer the more subdued colors of the landscapes. This is all too bright and shiny. And another thing…"

"We really should keep moving around the room," Harry directed, rather rudely herding Hermione away from the portrait. "Please give the others a chance for a quick look," he told a startled Hermione, "We have to meet the Minister for dinner and we have a lot of exploring to do."

Hermione gave me a 'what's up with Harry' look, but obligingly moved on to the statues at the center of the room. The statues were not of humans. The first statue was carved from a white rock that appeared to be quite soft and showed an Elf, probably a Hogwarts house Elf, judging from the ragged loin cloth that was its only clothing. There was a brass plaque in the floor in front of the sculpture, assigning authorship to Roland White.

As we moved on to a brass statue of a Unicorn, Ron deliberately shoulder bumped Harry as he walked past him, gave him an angry look and tilted his eyes toward Hermione, so that Harry couldn't miss the message. Harry allowed us each a leisurely once around the museum, before insisting that it was time to move on to Ravenclaw.

This was anticlimactic. We had all concluded that the other archway must lead into the Ravenclaw common room, and so it did. The only real piece of new information was that, as expected, the ring that Harry was given by Lord Montaigne failed to open this door. Thus, a Montaigne ring was not used to enter Ravenclaw, when the Carrows were freed. The entry into Ravenclaw involved the statue of Rowena in their common room sliding inward. It was opened, from the other side, by placing the ring on the end of her nose. I could think of some more elegant means of activating the motion of the memorial statue for such an elegant and gifted Witch.

Harry led us back out the portal and all the way back to the tunnel, which presumably led to the old Gryffindor ruins.

"I'm going to plead weariness and an elderly body," Professor McGonagall apologized to us, "but I think Trew and I will call it a day and let you make this particular trip on your own. I only ask that you be careful and follow Bill's instructions. I have a fear that the pathway ahead may be arduous and dangerous. I'll see you all at dinner. Let me give you what should be an unnecessary reminder not to speak of any of the things that we have seen today to either the Slytherins or Cissy. I need time to ponder. I had realized that of the institutions set up to protect and preserve the Wizarding world, both the Ministry and Gringotts have failed dismally and served largely to stifle progress. Now I find that Hogwarts has also failed Wizards and was in fact rejiggered to stamp out any spark of creativity. I knew some changes were needed, but I never thought things were this bad or that the school had been so much more progressive in the past."

"Follow me," Bill commanded, "and again, no sharp or loud noises." We continued down the tunnel for perhaps two hundred feet, before we reached a portal. "I hope the Peverell rings work here," Harry confessed "I shouldn't have let Professor McGonagall walk away with the Ravenclaw ring."

Harry's regrets were assuaged when Ron's ring opened the door. A double check revealed that Harry's ring also worked. Harry insisted on one more test and determined that the stone in the clasp that had fastened the cloak about the Peverell statue was also able to activate this door. Beyond the portal was an open space, amidst some rubble and cracked foundation.

As we were waiting for the door to close and reopen during one of these experiments, my brother gave Harry a shove, asking "why did you push Hermione?"

"I apologize, but I barely nudged her," Harry replied. "I readily apologize to both you and to Hermione, but you know how Hermione likes to explain everything in minute detail. I was afraid that she was going to give away the game to Professor McGonagall."

"What game?" Ron demanded.

"Calm down, Ron," Hermione pleaded. "I was surprised and a little taken aback when Harry gave me a relatively gentle shove away from the portrait of the girl, but almost immediately I realized he was right, and I was about to blab more than I should with Professor McGonagall standing with us. That certainly was not a portrait of Ravenclaw. It also was mounted very strangely. It wasn't framed, simply hung by its stretcher and crammed right up against the wall. I noticed as I looked at the four walls from the center of the room, that the end painting or drawing on each wall was about two feet from the end of the wall. This painting was later crammed in between the last painting and the corner. There were only two inches space to the adjacent painting and less than an inch to the corner. It was also the only painting without a brass plaque. The plaques identified the subject of the painting or drawing. Harry was very sharp to notice that. I assume he also noticed that the girl was wearing a Hogwarts uniform, but that there was no Hogwarts when Rowena was a girl. Also, the eyes are the wrong color. The strangest thing is that those were definitely Rowena's glasses."

"Perhaps she painted one of her students and let her wear the glasses to get a different view of the world," I suggested.

"Perhaps," Hermione answered, but then we were interrupted by Harry's interest in what lay beyond the arch.

"I think we must be in some sort of basement structure beneath the stables," Harry surmised.

"I'm not sure how safe this looks," Bill warned us. "We can lob some balls of light into the ruins and see what we can see, but I'm rather afraid of stepping beyond this particular threshold. It's at least encouraging that the door mechanism still worked."

We lobbed about a dozen balls of light into the space beyond. The clear space was roughly circular, roughly fifteen feet across. Amidst the rubble, we saw several piles of books and three fairly good sized wooden boxes. As Harry was looking like he was intent on sneaking in and retrieving some more plunder, I grabbed his shoulder to restrain him.

{[interest/curiosity/too little fear] This structure has stood here under the mound of dirt for centuries. It should be safe enough to just dart in and grab some things and come right back out. If the ceiling starts to shift, I can apparate out.}

"I'd feel much better if you just did an 'accio' or a 'leviosum' instead," I cautioned Harry.

In the end, we worked together on 'leviosum' spells to transport the books and boxes to our side of the portal. Bill looked more relaxed when this task was completed and we had closed the door. "I am beginning to get the impression that you are going to be an unusually difficult principal to safeguard," Bill told Harry.

We transported our booty back to the top of the landing outside our common room and then, as promised, Harry led us all to the Reception Hall. The group was duly impressed and we spent the remainder of the afternoon there. Ron hadn't told George about the King Weasley portrait and George was very surprised as he came across it.

Harry wanted to inspect the route to Montaigne Castle, but there simply wasn't enough time and his troops were exhausted, so we headed back to the common room, taking our treasures inside with us.

"We have to give these things a quick once over and then get them back onto the landing, before the Slytherins show up," Mom instructed Harry.

There were multiple copies of many of the textbooks, but we pulled aside an introductory and advanced potions texts, a textbook on drawing, an advanced text on transfiguration, three levels of textbooks on Wizard history, a Muggles study text, an English composition text, a French language text, four levels of herbology texts, and an introductory Charms textbook. The duplicates went out to the landing and the save copies went up to the girls' seventh year dorm room, for Hermione's subsequent perusal. The first box contained aged and beginning to disintegrate tackle. The second box had equally disintegrated horse blankets. Box number three was like a time capsule of grievances past. On top were several sheets of parchment, written on in black ink and in none-too-good condition. Mom read the top sheet.

_Charges Against the Evil Lord Montaigne_

_Pressed By the Poor Slaves of Hogwarts_

_We, the impoverished students of Gryffindor House, taken into bondage by the most evil Lord Montaigne and son Dudley, wish future Wizards to know the extent of our torment. Because he is allowed no House Elves by Covenant, we are his slaves. We serve Montaignes at their castle and our school. It has been so I am told for the past score years, but worse with young Montaigne at Hogwarts. As poor Muggles denied the title of Wizard, we must labor for the Montaignes to pay our education and wands. We care for the horses and carriages here and at the castle and serve Montaigne's son in all his needs. He preys upon both the boys and girls for his evil desires. He beats us if we do not serve him just so. They took us from our families with promise of education, but we have only hardship. Less food, fewer classes, no respect, only allowed in the school to attend class. No music, transfiguration, astronomy, divination, drawing, most unable to write. Lord Montaigne says we have no need of that nonsense. We cannot carry our wands upon our selves. Today I have stolen three and John has taken food. We have what little clothes we can steal. I, Thomas Boot, seventh year slave, write this record for those who can not read or write. Yesterday the Ministry auror made an error and taught John and me to apparate. Tonight, to freedom and a life of running. Dex thinks he knows a spot where we will be safe. John can only take us within a hundred miles and then we walk. If we die, know at least we tried._

_6 May 1498_

"This school has a dark past," Hermione declared. "Now we know why Lord Montaigne doesn't own any Elves. I know it's not important, Harry, except to me, but could you ask Percy to check the archives and find out what happened to Thomas Boot."

"I will", Harry replied. "It is of interest to me, also."

Dad was already at the table when we entered the Great Hall for dinner.

"The restitution agreements were ratified by the Wizengamot this afternoon. It was touch and go for a while, but they were narrowly approved. It really would have helped had you been there, Harry. You were the one who impressed the urgency of the matter upon me. You were right, but you might have followed through better."

"I'm sorry, but things came up that we needed to investigate. We have much to show and tell you after dinner. We still have one more exploration to complete tonight. I think it must be done before Lord Montaigne has a chance to be unhappy with the trial. We can talk more in McGonagall's office."

Later, in her office, we took turns explaining to Dad everything that we had discovered. He became agitated as he viewed the memories that had sent us on our spelunking expedition. He was astounded when we showed him the hidden art gallery, all the back doors into Hogwarts and its dorms, and the message from the slaves. He agreed that our time had been well spent, but added, "I think your circle could have accomplished these things without your help, Harry."

"Believe me, I considered that, Sir, but I felt they would be in less trouble if caught during these excursions if they were accompanied by a trainee Keeper. You did just fine without me today." I thought that last phrase sounded a bit more condescending than Harry doubtlessly intended.

"Fine, but you need to delegate. Still, I do agree that you need to lead the expedition to Montaigne castle tonight.

"Do try to be in attendance for the conclusion of the trial tomorrow. It starts at 9:00 A.M. I'll excuse any tiredness if you've had a long night. I'll check on Thomas Boot, myself. I'm surprised that you haven't asked me more about Fudge. I don't think you realize how serious this is. I know you didn't much like Fudge, but the murder of a former Minister is most serious and almost unprecedented. The community offers a gracious peace to its former leaders in their declining years as they remove themselves from politics."

"I more than didn't much like him," Harry replied. "It would be just a slight stretch to say I hated him. And he wasn't out of politics, was he. He's still an honorable on the Wizengamot and you remember what I mentioned to you about Fudge's visit here. He wanted to be Deputy Minister. I know his death is serious. I didn't suppose that he simply fell into the quarry any more than the French Minister just fell off his broom."

"No, it was murder all right. After you mentioned your meeting with Fudge, I expected to hear from him, but I never did. He's dead now. Please don't hold onto your grievances. He was more a frightened and foolish Wizard than an evil one. Well, he was corrupt enough to count as somewhat evil. He leaves a large estate to his daughter. She's an auror. I guess she'll be a retired auror very soon. Well, don't let me keep you from your search. I have work back at the Ministry. Tomorrow's hearing may be difficult and I have to consult some legal books."

"Goodnight Dad."

We apparated to the Reception Hall and started walking down the tunnel that led to Montaigne Castle. We had planned to ride our brooms, but Bill said that there likely were caterwauling charms or worse set to protect the tunnel from intruders and that we would have far better chance of spotting and disarming them if we moved more slowly, on foot. He insisted that we take Barb with us for added protection. Hermione thought to bring the Flamel Device to help identify any charms placed in our path.

It was 8:00 P.M. as we set out on our journey. At least the tunnel was sufficiently high and wide that we could walk comfortably two abreast. Barb and Bill took point. Hermione insisted, "Since Ron and I are packing the heavy duty wands, we should go second, in case we need to launch the secret weapon."

"That is an absolute last resort!" warned Bill, "I'm very concerned about a tunnel collapse. If Hermione is behind us, what she should be doing is checking ahead with the Flamel device and leaving the fighting to Barb and me. It's our job to protect you, not the other way around."

The only inconvenience with the walk was the presence of the rails and ties, which made us tread carefully to avoid twisting an ankle. We had walked for about five minutes, when we came to the side tunnel that went to the forest. "Given the press of time, I think we should split up here," Harry suggested. "If Luna, George, Molly, and Neville check the tunnel to the forest, the rest of us will forge ahead to the castle. You're looking for anything that looks like a bomb or material that can be used to make a bomb. I think it is much more likely to be stashed near the castle, so it can be delivered by the rail cart, but we should be cautious and check out the branch to the forest. Be very careful. Remember, there are giant spiders at the end of that tunnel." Luna shuddered as Harry gave that last warning.

"That's okay, Harry," George agreed, "we'll take care of the other tunnel and meet you back in the common room".

It was a long hike toward the castle. We had been walking for over two hours and had not come upon anything that looked the least suspicious. We had developed a good routine. Barb and Bill went ahead with a wand for attack in their right hands and a brightly lit 'lumos' wand in their left. Ron also kept his wand ready to cover all of us with a 'protego' spell, while Hermione checked ahead with the Flamel device. We decided early on that Hermione really had to take point, in order to have any chance of detecting a charm before we stumbled into it. Her protectors were right over her shoulders. Meanwhile, Harry and I used our lit wands to check the side walls, ceiling, and floor for any stone arches, shafts, or hidden materials. All of this checking and avoiding the rail ties slowed our pace considerably. We walked another two hours, before Hermione called a halt. There appeared to be alarm charms ahead of us.

"The rest of you sit and take a rest," Bill commanded. "If Hermione gives me the Flamel device, Barb and I will remove the charms."

It took an hour for them to complete the job and then we continued on our walk. We had only walked ten more minutes, when Hermione discovered another charm that had to be disarmed. This time Bill used what he learned the first time and had the charm removed in fifteen minutes. I had a strong feeling that we were very close to our goal. Another three minutes of walking and the rail cart was in view. Hermione approached it slowly and called back to Bill, "It's protected by an alarm charm and it seems to be filled with something under a sheet."

Bill instructed us to move back the tunnel a hundred feet, while he and Barb attacked the charm. A half hour later, he called to us to come forward. The sheet was lying on the ground beside the cart and inside the cart was a big pile of clay sticks with wires coming out of them and one of the brass Muggle boxes like the ones Hermione had identified in Dad's office.

"It's definitely a very big bomb," Hermione stated the obvious, "but the wires aren't connected to the brass box. It would take very little to get it ready for action and it can be set with any delay up to an hour. Lord Montaigne could send the cart to the Reception Hall with the bomb and be safely away from the castle by the time it went off."

"What are we going to do with this?" Ron asked".

"I have an idea," replied Hermione. "Grab the blocks of explosive and we'll apparate back to Hogwarts. Then I have some midnight shopping to do."

"Unfortunately, it's well past midnight," Ron replied.

We grabbed the bomb stuff, made a mental mark of our location, and apparated back to the pocket inside the fence at Hogwarts. Hermione disapparated immediately to go about her errand, while the rest of us carried the bomb stuff back to our common room. We laid the clay blocks, with their wires attached, on the floor, and waited for Hermione. Hermione returned an hour later with a big sack filled with more blocks of explosive stuff. Mom whispered that we shouldn't make too much noise, or we'd wake the Slytherins.

"This is just Muggle modeling clay, like kids and artists use. It's not dangerous at all, but we can shape it to look just like the nasty stuff", Hermione explained. We set about doing that, even pulling the wires from the real nasty stuff and inserting their little metal sticks into the modeling clay. Hermione got a cloth and wiped the surface of the bad stuff, transferring the smell to the modeling clay. When she was finished, it would take a very careful inspection to tell the two piles apart. We carried the modeling clay back to the fence and apparated into the tunnel. We placed the blocks of clay and wires into the cart in as close an approximation to the original as we could remember, and covered them with the cloth.

Bill did his best to replicate the alarm charms that Lord Montaigne had placed on the cart. "It's not difficult at all. Once I realized after the first charm in the tunnel how inept Montaigne is, I just revised my procedure to handle very amateur charms. I've added an alarm that will let me know when the cart is approached. You go back to the dorm and try to get a little rest. Barb and I will replace the other charms in the tunnel and join you back at Gryffindor."

By the time we made it back to the dorm, there was no time left for sleep. The others were waiting for us, so we told them the job was complete. Then we washed and put on suitable robes for attending the trial and headed down for some breakfast. Bill and Barb had returned and joined us for breakfast.


	50. Chapter 50

**Chapter Fifty – Bruce's Sentence**

Harry drew Professor McGonagall aside at the end of breakfast to bring us her up to date on what we had discovered. Fortunately Cissy had not returned to Hogwarts and the Slytherins had eaten and run, because the cozy whisper session between Harry and Professor McGonagall was punctuated by her almost shouting voice. "You brought a BOMB into Hogwarts, Mr. Potter? And without consulting me, first!"

I scurried over to them, to help Harry explain himself. He was at the "…well, you certainly knew what we were searching for, and we could hardly leave it there for Lord Montaigne to blow up the Sacred Cavern" stage when I explained what we had done.

"There was no danger and is no danger, Professor McGonagall. We left the parts that cause the bomb to explode and just brought back the pieces of exploding stuff. Hermione understands these things and says it is perfectly safe. She says if we ever need a bomb, however, we have the makings for a really big one. She's going to bring back one of the bomb exploders from the Ministry, in case we ever need to make a bomb." It turned out that this further explication was less than helpful.

"I think not, Miss Weasley. I hardly think things are alright and safe, simply because Miss Granger says they are. In fact, I'm going to have a word with Miss Granger. MISS GRANGER! MY OFFICE! NOW!"

Hermione followed Professor McGonagall, who was already on the way to her office. As she passed us, Hermione gave me a look that said 'what trouble have you gotten me into?'

We were a little late getting to the Ministry, because Harry and Ron wanted to wait for Hermione. Harry scheduled the morning so that we would have a half hour with the Minister before the trial resumed, but now we would be lucky to snag him in the corridor and exchange a few words. Percy showed us where to stand to catch Dad as he traveled from his office to the courtroom. "You're late again, Harry," Dad admonished.

Harry quickly whispered to Dad, "We found that Lord Montaigne had the makings of a bomb on the rail cart that travels from his castle to the Reception Hall outside the Sacred Chamber. We think he is planning to blow up the Reception Hall and Sacred Chamber if the result of this trial isn't to his liking. We replaced the explosives in his bomb with harmless modeling clay, but I don't think he'll be able to tell the difference just looking at it. Bill set an alarm charm, so we'll know if Montaigne tries to move the cart toward the Reception Hall. Sorry to be late, Professor McGonagall waylaid Hermione and we waited for her."

"I forgive you, that is valuable information and it explains my morning visit from Lord Montaigne. He sought admittance saying his visit dealt with a possible failure of magic. When he was in my office, he said if he didn't like the outcome of the trial, that there most definitely would be a failure of magic. I'm going to dispatch several of my aurors to hide in the Reception Hall, in case Montaigne tries something. They'll need one of you to guide them there. Will Hermione and Ron take them? I have to go now, but I'll send three aurors back to you."

We waited in the corridor. A few minutes later Shacklebolt appeared with two aurors. Ron explained what was happening, and the five of them went off together. Harry and I joined the others in the visitors section of the courtroom.

The courtroom was packed. Bruce's lawyer reported what we already knew: "My client refuses to be examined by a doctor and has totally refused to cooperate with me in his defense. He says he does not recognize the validity of this tribunal. He has told me that if I offer any defense, especially the insanity defense, that he will plead guilty and waive any mitigating defenses or rights of appeal. Faced with that situation, I can only request that my client be allowed to serve his sentence in Britain, prior to extradition."

"Very well," Dad replied. "Is this how the defendant agrees to plead?"

"I don't intend to plead with this illegal tribunal for anything. I am your King. You have no right to judge me. Yes, I do not deign to offer a defense to this tribunal, nor do I deign to appeal its verdict or beg it for mercy. In time you will suffer for any crimes you commit against me."

"Madam Bones, do you have anything to add, before the Wizengamot rules on the French request for extradition?" Dad inquired.

"Yes, Minister. I note that Bruce has not confessed to killing anyone in Britain, ordering any killings in Britain, or actually initiating his plot to overthrow the government. The crimes that he has confessed to do not take precedence over the French charges of multiple murders for hire. I have reviewed the evidence submitted by the French Ministry and urge the Wizengamot to accept the French petition. The French Minister has sent a document, assuring that they will not seek to execute the defendant."

Our view was suddenly blocked by someone moving down the aisle ahead of us. Bill the auror was about to grab the person, but Harry was waving him aside. I looked up to see Lord Montaigne standing in the aisle directly in front of Harry and talking to the top of Harry's up-craned head. "This is the last chance to save this situation. I won't allow Bruce to be sent to France. You must do something to stop this, or you will be responsible for what follows."

"If Bruce confessed to, and gave the details of, the murder of my grandfather, that would be a charge sufficient to hold Bruce in Britain. He could spend the rest of his life in jail, here, and avoid extradition," Harry responded.

"That's not good enough. I don't want Bruce spending his life in prison. That is unspeakably cruel."

"I don't see a better solution for you," Harry replied. "You know that as soon as he finishes whatever sentence he receives, he will be extradited to France. Unless he gets a very long sentence for murdering his uncle, the French petition will take precedence and he will be shipped off to France, immediately."

"I'll grab your offer, but the consequences be on your head!" With that, Lord Montaigne was backing down the aisle and calling for the attention of the defense lawyer.

"What do you propose as a realistic sentence, one that won't have him shipped off to France?" Harry called after him. Lord Montaigne paused for just an instant, turned to look back at Harry, a look of infinite sadness on his face and said "I'm sure you and Arthur could pull strings to get a better deal than that. You just don't care." With that, he was gone and speaking to the defense lawyer.

"Don't listen to my father. I forbid it!" Bruce commanded.

The defense lawyer requested a ten minute recess, which Dad granted. Lord Montaigne then huddled with the lawyer. When the lawyer went to talk to Bruce, Cissy got up from her seat and went to talk to her father. Their arm motions soon indicated that whatever Cissy and her father were talking about, they had quickly arrived at a serious disagreement. The lawyer and Bruce now also appeared to be arguing with each other. The lawyer was soon back at Lord Montaigne's side, conferring with the Lord, as Cissy leaned closer and tried to listen in. The lawyer was now off to see Bruce again, and Cissy had her hand upon her father's arm and seemed to have leaned in to whisper to him. Lord Montaigne finally brushed Cissy's hand off his arm, got up, and huffed out of the courtroom. The lawyer nodded to Dad that he was willing to continue.

"I have nothing to add, Minister," the lawyer said, having risen and approached the members of the Wizengamot.

"Is the Wizengamot ready to vote on the French petition for extradition?" Dad intoned. "All those in favor of granting the petition, please raise your hand." Almost every hand was raised. "Opposed?" About a quarter as many hands went up.

"The French petition is granted," Dad announced. "The prisoner will be returned to his cell, until such time as the French are able to accept charge of him."

"We are able to accept the prisoner for transport, immediately," Monsieur Delacour announced.

"Very well," Dad replied, "he's yours. If your officers come forward, we'll release Bruce from the chair and turn him over to you. Four of our aurors will accompany you to the Deputy Minister's antechamber, from which, I believe, you will be able to apparate back to your own Ministry. Only your wand will work, Minister, so you'll have to transport the others back home."

"Thank you, Minister."

With that, the trial was over (or really never started), and Bruce was being escorted from the courtroom by the doors behind Dad and the Wizengamot. Our group got up to leave, planning to go up to Dad's office, but we were intercepted in the corridor by Cissy. "Please, it's urgent that I speak with you. My father is going to do something terrible. He somehow plans to destroy the magic in revenge for the Wizengamot turning Bruce over to the French. I tried to tell Dad that they had no choice, but he just said that you and the Minister were warned and could have prevented this."

"Please go with the others to the Minister's office, where you can explain the whole situation," Harry urged. "I'd come with you, but it's vital that I see the Goblin King, at once."

As Harry headed to the Entry Hall, the rest of us moved toward Dad's office. With the press of the crowd and the added security, it took us fifteen minutes to get there. When we got to his office, we learned that Dad had been called back to the courtroom. Apparently when he reached Harry's antechamber, Bruce had declared "I really don't want to be sent to France. I'll confess to my crimes. I murdered my Uncle and I paid for the bombs that went off in Diagon Alley. I hoped they would rescue my election campaign."

The aurors had demanded that Bruce be returned to the courtroom. Monsieur Delacour had merely shrugged his shoulders and ordered his officers back to the courtroom to hear what Bruce had to say.

We reversed course and headed back to court. The first part of our trip was quick as we made our way out of the Minister's suite and down the elevator to the basement, but then we found ourselves swimming against the tide. Even with Barb's help, it was slow going, but we were soon back in our seats. The courtroom was nearly empty. Ernie was still interviewing Madam Bones, but most of the crowd and even the other reporter from the Daily Prophet had departed. I saw Mr. Lovegood chatting with the defense lawyer. I saw Bruce was back in his chair, Dad was back in position ready to lead the trial, and the members of the Wizengamot were slowly reassembling. There were several more minutes of commotion in the front of the courtroom as we, especially Cissy, were trying to figure out what was happening.

Finally, Dad called the Wizengamot back into session. "I understand that the prisoner has changed his mind and decided to make a substantive presentation to this court. Is that correct, counsel?"

"Apparently, Sir. I don't really understand what is happening all that clearly, but my client has requested permission to address the Wizengamot, for the purpose of making a full and complete confession."

I couldn't tell if Bruce had pretended to be sicker than he was or whether the reality of imprisonment at the mercy of the French Wizards, whom he had so grievously harmed, had shocked him back to a semblance of sanity. In any case, it was a far more lucid Bruce who spoke to the court.

"I confess that I murdered my uncle, who was the rightful heir to the Montaigne title and lands and the accursed role of Keeper. I didn't plan to kill him. I had heard from Dad that my uncle was confunded and sent into the Muggle world because my grandfather believed him to be the illegitimate son of an affair that my grandmother had with one of the Muggle-raised Squib servants. For generations, my family has hired servants from among the Squibs sent into the Muggle world. They were able to find and track them, because a Montaigne has always been the chairman of The New Start Society. Apparently, this nasty Squib didn't know his place and had his way with my grandmother.

"Anyway, I still was curious what my uncle looked like and what he was doing. In the back of my mind, I was not totally sure that he was illegitimate, so I wanted to get my own look to see how much he looked like my father and grandfather. I saw him in his back yard, doing magic tricks for his wife. I thought he looked a lot like my father and grandfather, but I also realized that he had some magical skill and wasn't a complete Squib. I feared that someone would discover that he was actually a Wizard and that I might lose my inheritance. So, I took my father's favorite Land Rover, he only had two back then, and drove it back to where my uncle lived. I had discovered that he was a doctor by following him to a patient's house. It was an easy matter to visit the patient the next week, memorize how he spoke, and phone the doctor to come out late at night. I parked my car so that the doctor had to park across the road. When he went to the house, I backed the car up and as my uncle was crossing the road, I used a 'petrificus totalis' curse on him and then ran over him. He fell in a way that I had to veer the car to hit him and I ended up striking another car. By the time I backed up and drove away, a Muggle had seen me and other Muggles were leaving their houses. It was too many Muggles to deal with so I just drove away and transfigured the car into a big piece of metal pipe. The aurors and Muggle police learned of my involvement, but my father fixed things with Minister Fudge and I left Britain.

"I hired some of the Death Eaters to assist in the attacks on Beauxbatons, after Voldemort was killed. I later paid the Death Eater Rowle to place bombs in Diagon Alley. I told him to do it in a way that nobody was hurt, but the Wizard merchants would be frightened and angry at interim Minister Weasley for failing to protect them. That was the best, or only, shot I had to win the election.

"I planned more bomb attacks right up to the election, but I was caught when I tried to steal some money from my father to pay for the resumption of my campaigns in France and Germany.

"I got the bomb stuff, what the Muggles call 'plastic explosive' and 'clockwork devices' from my father's stash. He keeps them as a weapon in reserve, in case things don't go the family's way.

"I can also tell you that my father has a book that he has been using to blackmail the Goblin King. The King helps my father use the source of magic and the Gringotts bank to control things behind the scenes. I always viewed that as pathetic, trifling minor interference in the natural course of history. I set out to grab control of history and change it for the better. With a little cooperation from my family, I would have succeeded.

"My father told me that grandfather murdered grandmother after he found out about my uncle. I haven't trusted my father since my mother died. I'm sure he murdered her, after she provided his backup heir. She was a far better person than he ever was. Or than I am.

"I'm sorry about all the French school girls and boys that died. I did not mean for that to happen. I thought they would quickly surrender when they saw the Giants and just give my men what I wanted. I told them not to kill anyone. There have been lies told that I paid others to fight and stayed home myself. I was at the first Beauxbatons battle, but the Giants were stupid and uncontrollable. I ordered them to stop smashing things and killing children, but they just kept doing it. Eventually, the other Wizard attackers and I had to flee, or the Giants would have turned on us. They're nothing but animals.

"If I had succeeded, you would have all seen a far better Wizarding world, with the Wizards reassuming their rightful spot in the world. You all had your chance for greatness, but you opposed me. I don't really care what you do with me. My father will take revenge for whatever you do to me, so I really must advise that you treat me well. That's all that I have to say."

"Do I take it correctly," Dad addressed Bruce," that you are pleading guilty to the murder of your uncle, the bombings in Diagon Alley, and the original charges to which you originally pled guilty?"

"That's what I just said. I thought even you were intelligent enough to understand those words. I knew you were too stupid, as well as too weak, to be Minister. You'll lead the Wizards to ruin. Even the House Elves will rule over us."

"I will submit that as a guilty plea to all charges, including murder, bombing, and sedition," the defense counsel stated.

"In that case," Madam Bones declared, I ask the Wizengamot to return a sentence of life imprisonment, initially in the Ministry jail, with a transfer to Azkaban, whenever that institution is deemed ready to accept convicts."

"We'll take these items in order," Dad declared. "All in favor of countermanding the writ of extradition and judging Bruce here in Britain, please raise your hands." I think every hand was raised. "Opposed?" One Witch, whom I did not recognize, raised her hand.

"All in favor of accepting the plea of guilty to the full list of charges, as amended to include murder and the bombings, please raise your hand. Opposed?" There were only two votes in opposition.

"All in favor of a sentence of life imprisonment, including Azkaban, when available, please raise your hand. Opposed?" I believe there were only three opposed and perhaps thirty in favor.

"The prisoner will be imprisoned for the remainder of his life. I thank the French Minister for his extreme indulgence," Dad intoned.

The court again began to empty and we again began to make our way back to Dad's office. This time Monsieur Delacour accompanied us. "Your justice system works very strangely," he concluded.

"This was a very strange defendant," I replied.

When we got back to the office, Harry was talking to Dad. "I was correct in my guess that the King was being blackmailed because Montaigne knew that his masterpiece drawing was a copy. King Goblanze admitted that to me and said he would be deposed and replaced by Ruppasta Minta if Lord Montaigne passed on what he knew to Ruppasta. The King and I went to Prime Minister Blair and convinced him to change the drawing in the National Gallery and its website, as a matter of national security. So I think we're alright."

"You took a Goblin to see Tony Blair?"

"You mentioned the Goblins, when we visited him, together."

"It's one thing to speak of Goblins and quite another to have one standing in your office."

"Wait," Cissy ordered. "Dad said he had a book that he was holding over the King. There must be a copy of the picture in that book."

"And the King and Lord Montaigne are headed for a showdown in the Reception Hall," Harry reported. "We're still in trouble after all our efforts."

"Perhaps not," I replied. "Hermione may be able to stop him. Advanced transfiguration may save the day. I have to get straight to the Reception Hall." Harry, Dad, and the others came with me.

By the time we arrived, Lord Montaigne had been arrested by the aurors and nearly been killed by the Goblins, who had assembled along with their King.

Lord Montaigne had shown up in the Hall, pushing a railway cart loaded with 'explosives' into the Hall and attempting to detonate it after declaring, "All I wanted was a reasonable solution for my son's problems. Life in a brutal French prison for a poor, confused boy acting under the compulsion of an illness. That is unthinkably cruel. I've spent my life defending the magic and Wizard traditions, but if that is my repayment, I choose to die and to take the magic with me." With that, he pressed the detonator, multiple times, and nothing happened. At least, that is what we were told, and, in fact, he was still futilely pushing the button when we arrived.

We did get to hear him finish his speech. I whispered quickly to Hermione as Lord Montaigne continued his rant.

"Alright, I'm a failure as a bomber. You've caught me. But I have another surprise for the dear Goblin King, who also refused to intervene to save Bruce. I've invited Ruppasta Minta here to show him this book. It is proof that the King's alleged masterpiece is really a fraud and a copy. I have the picture here by the original Muggle artist, whose vision the drawing depicts. The King is a mere copyist, totally lacking in vision. Also, lacking in guts, or I couldn't have blackmailed him all these years."

"That's preposterous. A desperate ploy by a criminal Wizard," Hermione declared as she approached the Lord. "Why, this book he is carrying is nothing but a collection of the annotated Mother Goose stories. Very entertaining tales, but having nothing whatsoever to do with King Goblanze."

"That's a lie!" Lord Montaigne declared, holding the book up for all to see.

"Mother Goose!" screamed Ruppasta Minta. "You brought me here to challenge my King over Mother Goose? You are as crazy and dangerous as your son, whom I deeply regret ever doing business with."

"Seize him!" shouted King Goblanze, pointing at Ruppasta. "He has some explaining to do."

Ruppasta disapparated before he could be seized. Lord Montaigne was not so lucky, and was transported back to the Ministry by the aurors.

Back in Dad's office, with just Dad, Mom, Monsieur Delacour, Shacklebolt, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and me, we took a few minutes to assess where we stood, and for Dad to both congratulate and rebuke Harry.

"Well, I have to admit that you saved the day, Harry, and I readily concede that you had no time to consult me in advance. Still, that was a remarkable amount of independent adventuring for a Deputy Minister. Minister Shacklebolt didn't keep me tied to my chair, but he would have really lit into me if I trotted off to the Muggle Prime Minister on my own initiative."

"Under the circumstances, I certainly would not have," Shacklebolt mildly protested, but quickly lapsed into silence under a withering glare from Dad.

"I still just can't believe you popped into Tony Blair's office, with a Goblin. And he actually agreed to help you? What did he say?"

"Yes, he did agree to help, Sir, after I explained the gravity of the situation. The first thing he said was 'so this is a Goblin,' and Goblanze corrected him that 'this is a Goblin King'. The Prime Minister apologized to the King and said to me 'I wish that just once I could just pop into Arthur's office with something incredible, rather than this don't call us, we'll visit you routine'. I gave him both our cell phone numbers and assured him that he could contact us, whenever he wished. He was very helpful after that. I think he'll get rid of all the copies of Gauguin's 'Creation of the Universe.' In truth, Sir, I think he just really, really wanted to get the Goblin out of his office."

As I lingered to say goodbye to Mom, I heard Shacklebolt whispering to Dad, "A civilized Goblin like Goblanze is not really all that bad, Arthur - Gordon Brown tells me Darth Cheney has visited that very same office."


	51. Chapter 51

**Chapter Fifty-One – Who Can Take These Tainted Titles? **

We all went back to Hogwarts. Cissy came with us. "I don't really want to go home and be with just myself and the servants, whom I now know are Squibs who father took advantage of. My whole family is in jail. You should know that my brother was completely wrong about my father murdering my mother. That is just something that Bruce latched onto to get worked up about. It bothered me enough when he first told me about his suspicions that I checked with the doctor and nurses. My mother definitely died giving birth to me. The rest is Bruce's delusion. In a way, I'd like Bruce's version to be true, so that I am not somehow responsible for killing her. On at least that one point, my father is blameless."

We looked up Professor McGonagall to fill her in on the conclusion of our adventures. She said "I'm pleased that you've done your part in bringing Bruce and Lord Montaigne to justice and preventing that nasty Ruppasta from overthrowing King Goblanze, but I still want those explosives out of my school."

Hermione promised that they would be gone within the day. Professor McGonagall reminded Hermione that it was only two days until her lecture. Hermione complained that she had gone from not enough information to way too much information, and had a lot of thinking to do.

Harry picked a tough time to ask a favor of Professor McGonagall. "I have a major favor to ask," he began. "You know how King Goblanze looks down on Wizards as not being as inventive or artistic as Goblins? Now that he knows that we all know his masterpiece was a copy, I'd like to bring him to Hogwarts to show him our hidden art gallery. That should convince him that he underestimates Wizards and that by going along with Lord Montaigne as head of Gringotts, that he has a large share of the blame for stifling the progress of the Wizarding community."

"After bringing a bomb to Hogwarts, I'm surprised you even ask permission for a little thing like that," Professor McGonagall replied. "I think it a fine idea, however. I think our Board of Governors needs to see our museum, as well. They and the Hogwarts staff have also done our part to crush the creativity of young Wizards.

"By the way, while you were finishing your adventure, I was successfully recruiting the artist Witch to join the faculty next term. She'll be moving in within the week. We have much to discuss about how best to integrate her efforts into the curriculum. We're definitely going to involve the first and second years in art instruction, but I'm not sure what we can do with the upper level students. I'm sincerely interested in the views of all of you in revamping the curriculum."

Harry's cell phone rang and he answered it. I was perhaps overly proud of Harry for learning how to use the thing. Harry did a lot of listening and then replied "if it's necessary for good intergovernmental relations, then I'll certainly do it, although I'm sure it is going to get me into trouble. We'll meet you at your office at 9:00 A.M. and travel together from there. Yes, I'll pick up King Goblanze on the way. I want to show him our little art museum, anyway…. Yes, you're welcome to see it as well. I'll see you tomorrow, Sir."

I gave Harry a look and then moved closer, when he refused to tell us about the phone call. He replied "it's a matter of state security," and moved to the other side of Professor McGonagall's office. "It's been a really long day and I'm off to bed," Harry declared, making a quick escape. "Ginny, Ron, and Hermione – I have an early errand - if you and Percy can meet me at the Minister's office at 9:30, it would be great. It's important that you bring Cissy with you."

The next morning, I lingered in the common room, waiting to walk to breakfast with Harry, but finally left without him. He wasn't in the Great Hall, either, and by then I had wasted enough time that I had to quickly finish my breakfast to join the others for the trip to the Ministry. Percy was not thrilled to be taking even relayed orders from me, but was assuaged by the thought of a meeting in Dad's office. We all arrived in Dad's ante-room a few minutes early. His receptionist was surprised to see us, telling us that, "the Minister is meeting with Director Shacklebolt. I'll check if they can be disturbed."

I heard Dad saying in a loud exasperated tone of voice, "yes, I wanted to see Harry today, but I certainly wasn't expecting him to just pop in now, and certainly not with his whole circus…. No, no, you might as well tell them all to come in. We'll all wait to see what Harry has planned. It had best be good, or I'm going to be very annoyed."

That prediction was a certainty, as Dad clearly was already annoyed. As we were entering the office, Shacklebolt was soothing Dad "Harry and his gang are certainly brash and prone to going outside the lines, but you have to agree they've gotten good results. Without them, we'd still be facing Voldemort, LeDoux, Hyack, Bruce, and Lord Montaigne, and Ruppasta would be the new Goblin King. These youngsters are a force of nature, but one that has been blowing down the opposition for us. Relax and go along with the ride."

"I suppose you're right, Kingsley, but these uncoordinated actions can really complicate my work. I fear Harry has achieved a good result, but harmed relations with the Muggle government, in the process. I don't think it really appropriate for the Minister of Magic to just go along for the ride. Even if it might be appropriate under some circumstances, I just don't like it."

"Nonsense, I'm sure Harry was very polite and deferential toward the Prime Minister."

"He took a Goblin with him. Can you imagine the Prime Minister's shock to hear a pop, look up expecting to see me, and instead seeing Harry and a Goblin?"

"We're sitting right here Dad, while you and Director Shacklebolt are talking about us," Ron remarked.

"I can only hope that you would continue to sit in silence."

I was afraid Ron was about to say something untoward, when Prudence stuck her head in and said "Prime Minister Blair wants to see you, immediately, Sir."

"That's alright Prudence, we can find our way in," Harry said from the other side of the door. We were then confronted by Harry, King Goblanze, and Tony Blair."

"Ministers Scrimgouer, Shacklebolt, and yourself were always just popping into my office with bad news. Harry showed up with more bad news, yesterday, but, unlike you, he also brought a Goblin. I insisted that Harry keep this visit a secret, on pain of bad intergovernmental relations. I just wanted to see what it felt like to just show up at your office with a Goblin. I think my office is nicer, by the way. I'm here to report that I think we got your request of yesterday sorted out. The National Gallery is now showing a different drawing as the 'Creation of the Universe', both on display and on-line. Harry alerted me that the drawing also appeared in at least one book. The museum staff is tracking that down and we'll see if we can round up the loose copies. If the emergency is over, Harry has promised to show the King and me the little art museum back at his school. The King has shown me his drawings and I think they're quite good. Diagon Alley and Gringotts Bank are amazing places.

"It's certainly good to see you again Arthur, and you too, Kingsley. I'm sure you realize that we are going to need a good story to explain the disappearance of Lord Montaigne and his son. I'm assuming his daughter Cissy will be assuming the title, although she is obviously a little young for the Lords. I was thinking that perhaps the Montaignes could have been lost in a sailing or mountain climbing accident. You'll find out what sport they like and start laying the groundwork to explain their outing and accident, I'm sure. We'll need credible witnesses. This is Bob from my protective squad, by the way. He's pledged to secrecy. Sorry to just duck in and leave, but I have a busy schedule and a school to visit.

"Oh, my guys have nothing new on your man Fudge. If you say he always traveled with a wand, I can tell you that we couldn't find it. All his wounds and broken bones were consistent with a fall into a quarry. It is officially suicide, identity unknown. Perhaps you can find the culprits. I understand that he might have been in possession of an ancient seal, which is of great importance to you. We didn't find that, either."

"I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Ginny, Sir," Harry was saying as he walked up to me and put an arm on my shoulder to ease me toward the Prime Minister. {[panic] Call Professor McGonagall and tell her we're coming.}

"Hermione and Ron, why don't you come along and help me explain the art. Oh yes, this gentleman edging forward is my chief aide, Percy."

"Pleased to meet you, Prime Minister."

"We'll apparate from my ante-room," Harry announced to the room in general, as he and his guests departed.

"That certainly qualifies as a strange meeting," Dad observed, "but at least the Prime Minister seems to be in a good mood. And, Percy, you don't just sidle up to the Prime Minister. Aides are supposed to be invisible, unless called upon."

"He made Harry promise to keep this little intrusion a surprise," I apologized to Dad. "I have to alert Professor McGonagall, now. Can I borrow your phone?"

I didn't see much point in staying at the Ministry to be the focus of any unhappiness Dad felt with Harry. It was much better to leave that job to Percy, so I departed as soon as I had completed my call. By running all the way from the gate, I was able to reach Professor McGonagall's office just a few seconds after Harry and his guests.

"Prime Minister, King Goblanze, it is a pleasure to show you around our school. Harry had suggested he would be inviting you, I just didn't expect it to be…. this soon."

"I'm afraid that I insisted that Harry bring us today. I also strong armed Harry into participating in a little practical joke I wished to play on your Minister. All in all, the morning has been quite successful, thus far. I understand you have a museum to show us."

"Yes, we do, Prime Minister. I must apologize in advance for the rather unorthodox path that we must travel to the museum. I think we'll go by way of Gryffindor, if you'll lead the way, Harry. Trew and I will follow."

"My, that's enough to give one a bad case of sea-sickness," the Prime Minister observed, as the stairs perversely decided to rotate and swivel as we were climbing them. I adroitly skipped to the proper stairs as they drifted toward us, while Harry and Ron gave the Prime Minister a hand over.

As we were about to enter the Gryffindor common room, Draco and Pansy were leaving with their customary picnic basket. I don't know where they had left Narcissa. Suddenly, Draco stopped after passing us and whispered far too loudly, "Pansy, that's the Muggle Prime Minister and the Goblin King."

"I've never quite understood what a Muggle is, young man, perhaps you could explain it to me?" the Prime Minister intoned stiffly, looking directly at Draco. "Don't I know your father, by the way?" Draco just turned and ran, leaving Pansy to mumble, "Muggle is the term we use to describe humans without magical ability."

We continued into the common room, just as Narcissa was preparing to leave.

"Ah, I had guessed it was something of the sort. Hello, Narcissa, I was just attempting to speak to your son, but he appears to have run away."

"Oh, hello Mr. Prime Minister, King Goblanze. I apologize for my son, he must be in awe, just running into both of you like this. I had hoped that we had taught him better manners than that."

We walked through the common room and Professor McGonagall edged Harry aside to place her ring against the knot hole. The door opened and the Professor was surprised to find where Hermione had hidden the plastic explosives. She stepped around the pile, turning to warn "careful walking around the explosive, Prime Minister. I wouldn't want you to think we're radical bomb throwers here at Hogwarts. Those were the explosives that were removed from Lord Montaigne's bomb and for some odd reason my students felt this was an appropriate place to bring them. You're more than welcome to have your security associate take them away with you. I'm told they lack the part that could cause them to explode."

The security guy stopped to examine our bomb parts, saying "It's plastic explosive, Sir, but there are no detonators or battery. I see where they've removed the detonators."

"I'd prefer not to leave it here," the Prime Minister instructed him.

"Yes," Harry said. "I guess since you're here, we may as well show you the site of the intended bombing, as well. You'll find the timer and detonators there. But the art museum is far more enjoyable."

"Considering how amusing it has been simply getting to it, I'm sure the museum will be most interesting."

We all helped in showing our guests around the museum and reading some of the poetry from the cabinet. Luna arrived with George, having fetched the old Hogwarts drawings and paintings from the library. Harry smiled when King Goblanze commented, "I wouldn't have believed Wizard children were capable of such remarkable work. I do hope you allow the students to paint again. That manuscript left by your ancient art Professor brought tears to my eyes. I'll certainly do my part to help you push the Wizard community along the path of progress. I'm sorry I let Lord Montaigne persuade me to help him block new businesses. You should know, Prime Minister, that some of the Wizard families used to be among the chief British merchant traders, but Gringotts bank drove them out of business."

"My administration would welcome your people's increased participation in the local economy, as long as they don't let ordinary Britons know that they are Wizards. I'm sorry, but I don't think our people are ready to deal with Goblins. You'll most definitely have to remain hidden. Now if we can pay a quick visit to the scene of the attempted bombing, I need to be on my way."

"You know," the King said to Harry and the Prime Minister, "other than THE drawing that I entered into the Selection Tournament, all the drawings on my office walls are original. I admit they don't rise to the greatness of what I borrowed from Gauguin."

"I liked all of your drawings," Harry reassured the King. "I meant what I said about THE drawing. I didn't call it a copy, because it wasn't a copy. It reminded me of the Gauguin in mood and attitude, as if it was projecting the Wizard perspective on the birth of the Universe. I think you were inspired by Gauguin, but you didn't copy him. Many Muggle artists are inspired by other artists, but their work is still regarded as fully original."

"That's why the Muggles speak of schools of painting," Hermione chimed in. "Gauguin was one of many impressionist artists. They all drew inspiration from each other, as did Picasso and the other cubist painters. Someone has a new way of representing the heart of reality and others extend that concept."

"You are very generous to try to ease my conscience," the King replied, "but to Goblins most everything beyond the vision that the artist is portraying is regarded as mere mechanical execution. I saw the Gauguin while wandering the Muggle Museum one fine night. I have visited many museums after closing. I agree that there are quite a few differences between my drawing and the Gauguin, some of content and others of style, but I stole the essential vision from Gauguin. I know what you mean about schools of Muggle painters sharing an approach and basic vision of how the real world is best represented in art to capture its essence. I see the similarities as well as the differences in their work.

"We Goblins take a stricter view of what is original. It is more the view that Muggles take on writing, only a little more so. I read Muggle mystery stories. Arthur Conan Doyle owned Sherlock Holmes. It would have been illegal and totally unoriginal for any other writer to write a story that used Holmes as a character, even if the plot were totally original, it was set in Minnesota instead of London, and the mood of the work was altered. Years later, the Muggles do allow imitators, but they are recognized as imitators of some originality, but far lesser than Conan Doyle. To a Goblin, Conan Doyle would own not only Holmes and Watson, but the style of that mystery. The Maltese Falcon, which I love, would be counted as original, because the characters, style of solving the mystery, settings, and mood are all different from the Conan Doyle style. The Maltese Falcon, if set in the London or the moors depicted by Conan Doyle, would not be counted as original by a Goblin. It most certainly would not be acceptable for the purposes of the Selection Tournament. I recognize my error and continue in office, on questionable moral terms, only because I've always known what a terrible disaster Ruppasta would be as a leader. I am trying to think of an honorable way out of this dilemma."

We all linked arms and then we were standing in the middle of the Reception Hall. The room wasn't in that bad shape, considering recent events. There was a rail car sitting part way into the room, bearing its dud bomb. Harry showed the bomb to the security guy. "We substituted modeling clay for the plastic explosive," Hermione beamed. It certainly fooled Lord Montaigne. He just stood here pushing and pushing the detonator button and getting redder and redder in the face, until he was arrested."

"It is modeling clay, Sir," the security guy reported, allowing the Prime Minister to take a closer look. King Goblanze took this opportunity to approach the Prime Minister and comment, "almost all of the art in this room was created by Goblins."

"And very fine work it is," the Prime Minister assured him, nodding to Harry that it was time to go. George brought the security guy a sack filled with the plastic explosives. Security guy Bob put the detonators in his pocket, slung the sack over his shoulder, then Harry, the King, the Prime Minister, and Bob joined hands and were gone. Several minutes later Harry was back.

Professor McGonagall gave him a look, but said only, "a most interesting spontaneous visit, Mr. Potter. I think Hermione needs to go work on her lecture, and Trew and I also have work to complete." She and Trew turned and left us mumbling to ourselves. Harry excused himself to return to the Ministry and whatever problems awaited from Dad.

Harry returned for dinner in a high state of excitement, joining us in the common room a half hour before dinner. "The Minister and the Goblin King have called upon the Wizengamot to strip Lord Montaigne of the Keepership. I somehow missed this in my pre-election civics study, but such a call takes absolute precedence and the hearing begins tomorrow morning. Some of us will be called as witnesses. I'm sorry, Cissy, but you will likely be called to testify."

"I'm willing to testify, but if they think I have a lot of damning evidence to give about my father, over and above what you'll be able to tell them, they are going to be disappointed. I learned of the failed bomb attempt after you did. I leaned about the possibility of Muggle explosives during my brother's ramblings in court."

"I realize that and I expect that they'll treat you gingerly, in deference to your family loyalty. There will be two questioners, by the way, Madam Bones and King Goblanze. Nobody knows exactly what the King's position will be, but he clearly was feeling guilty about letting your father blackmail him.

"That's not all, or even how we'll be spending our evening. It would be wrong to speak among ourselves about our memories of the events, before we testify tomorrow, anyway. The Minister wants to follow the Keeper trial with the Elven Rights Bill and asked me to make sure it is ready to go in two days. How are you coming with that, Hermione?"

"Well, I'd be farther along if I hadn't spent today finishing my lecture on Gryffindor and Peverell Houses. I had some questions to ask you, anyway. First, I assume that there will be a system of old-age pensions for the Elves, especially the very old elves, who are to be freed. Who will pay that in the case of Elves owned by Wizard families who have sustained economic reversals?"

"I think you should provide for a minimal level of old-age pension to be guaranteed by the Ministry."

"What about House Elves who are privy to embarrassing or legally harmful secrets of the family that now owns them?"

"Yes, I can see that could be a problem. I think you should say that the Elves cannot testify in court about matters they learned about in the service of their prior owner and that they are subject to civil legal action if they reveal damaging family secrets."

"Okay, although I think they should be allowed to speak their minds."

Draco, who had been listening in on the discussion, added his opinion. "You'll have far more opposition to the bill, without that provision. All of the owners of Elves know that the Elves know harmful or embarrassing things about them. Well over half of the Wizengamot members own Elves. Even Harry owns an Elf."

"Not anymore," Harry replied. "Kreacher said he wanted to properly close up Grimmauld Place, and then he's coming to live with your mother, within the next few days. He's a free Elf now, and he has a pension."

"You always were a complete softy. You're paying a pension to an Elf whom you've owned for less than two years of his long life?"

"I inherited the responsibilities that go with the house, when I inherited the house. It is the only responsible position."

"Getting back to my questions," Hermione testily stepped back into the discussion, "what about the elderly Hogwarts kitchen Elves?"

"I think Hogwarts can afford to fund their pensions," Harry replied.

"What about Elves who claim their freedom, but are too young for a pension and yet can't find employment?"

"I can see including a provision for a few months of transitional pay from the Ministry and allowing them to apply for jobs on a non-discriminatory basis, but I don't see how the Ministry can guarantee them a job. We don't guarantee jobs for Wizards."

"I think that's harsh, but it may be the only approach that will sell. I'll talk to McGonagall about the possibility of the school hiring displaced Elves, if necessary."

"Talk to Viktor and Monsieur Delacour, as well, they say Elves have no problem finding jobs on the Continent."

"What about Elves who don't want freedom?"

"We can't force them to be free, but we can say they have the right to ask for their freedom at any future time. In the meantime they are free to work out whatever arrangements they want to with their current owner or anyone else. Perhaps we should provide a mandatory counseling session to explain their rights under the bill to all Elves.

"Going back to your question of Elves right to express their views: they should be free to say they didn't enjoy working for their prior owner, or the owner was a mean owner, but they shouldn't be allowed to say their prior owner cheated on his taxes. I don't know if you've included this, but free Elves would still be subject to the International Secrecy Statute and could not reveal themselves to Muggles or allow knowledge of the magical world to be revealed to Muggles."

"Alright, Harry, now what about education for Elves?"

"I don't even know how Elves are educated now. Do you know?"

"I'm embarrassed to say I don't, I'll have a chat with the kitchen Elves after dinner."

"Speaking of which," I prodded them, "we are late for dinner."

As we walked down to dinner, I asked Harry, "How did Dad treat you after the Goblin King's prank."

"He didn't seem very upset, since the Prime Minister appeared to be in a good mood. He was a bit upset when I told him that Prime Minister Blair and his security aide took the bomb away with them. He said it was evidence that would be needed for any trial of Lord Montaigne, and he was concerned about what explanation the Prime Minister would have to give to account for returning to the office with a bomb. I reassured him that the security officer certainly would take the bomb somewhere other than the office, and that they would have a plausible story to explain its provenance. I told him that we were in an awkward situation and the security officer didn't want to leave the bomb with us, while Headmaster McGonagall wanted the bomb out of Hogwarts. He said that, under the circumstances, that was not the headmistress's decision."


	52. Chapter 52

**Chapter Fifty-Two – Montaigne Defrocked**

The next morning we all set off for Harry's office to get our credentials for admittance to the courtroom. Percy gave us passes, but told us that this time we were definitely among the potential witnesses, so each of us, except Bill the auror, would have to remain in Harry's office until either we gave our testimony or the lawyers decided that we would not be called as witnesses. Bill was to be the first witness, leaving Barb to guard us. Percy warned Harry that the court would likely save him and Cissy for last, since their testimony would relate to both Lord Montaigne's actions and his decision to make them trainee Keepers. They also likely would be judged on their fitness to replace Lord Montaigne as Keeper. Percy didn't think the court would get to them until late afternoon.

As we had time to wait, Harry asked Percy, "By the way Percy, have you made any progress on my question of how we should go about trying to destroy a fledgling ghost?"

"Sorry, Sir, with the press of other business, I've done nothing on that matter. It really is outside my area of expertise. The person you should be talking to is Director Shacklebolt. I'll check and see if he's available to talk to you today."

Percy returned fairly quickly with Shacklebolt, but George was called away to testify before he got back. "The Voldemort ghost is a loose end that has been bothering me as well," Shacklebolt said to explain his quick arrival. "I'd like a chance to get to the bottom of that and kill the thing.

"I'm also unexpectedly free this morning, since the Minister is presiding over the Wizengamot. I can't promise you a sure-fire way to quickly dispatch a ghost. I can tell you that they require a source of energy to sustain themselves. That's why Hogwarts has so many very active ghosts. The Hogwarts ghosts harvest the magical energy concentrated there as well as the mental energy of the students. A ghost can also stabilize itself by anchoring its remaining portion of soul and some of what energy it has in something physical, either an object or a living thing. It's the same principle as the Voldemort horcruxes. In the case of the Voldemort ghost, the object may even be a horcrux which we haven't discovered. Your reports of the ghost show it waxing and waning in strength. That tells me both that it isn't yet strong enough to be a fully-fledged ghost, nor is it as durable as one. It should therefore be easier to destroy. The change may have to do with the presence of Wizards in its immediate proximity, which I assume is still Slytherin."

"Yes," Harry replied. "There were reports of it being in the pipes, but that wasn't proven. It has not been observed outside of Slytherin. The waxing and waning was noted while just Draco and Pansy were staying in Slytherin, although it did consistently strengthen when other protectors slept in Slytherin. It was at its worst the night all of us slept there to help."

"So you might still have a small piece of Voldemort in your head, Harry, that's a possibility we can't discount, since the ghost gets stronger when you're present."

"But I was only there that one time and the ghost strengthened other times when Professor McGonagall sent others to guard the Slytherins. It may just strengthen when it has more minds to feed off."

"Maybe. Who were the other protectors who were present?"

"Initially I think it was Professor Slughorn and Hagrid, but then Professor Slughorn left the school."

"So I think you need to consider that Hagrid somehow is a source of strength to the ghost, either because the ghost is more successful in feeding off of a half-giant, or because Hagrid is at least a partial horcrux.

"The first thing that I recommend is that you keep Hagrid away from Slytherin and the ghost. The second is that all of you, plus Draco and Pansy, use what you remember about when the ghost strengthened and when it weakened to test my theory about Hagrid. Let me know what you decide.

"In the meantime, I think you are doing the correct thing in removing Draco and Pansy from Slytherin. That gives the ghost two fewer sources of energy. I think one thing that would kill it for sure is if we could capture it and isolate it away from the Hogwarts concentrated magical force lines and from any sentient beings, especially any magical beings. I haven't come up with a plan for capturing and transporting the ghost at present, but I'll keep working on it and you can do your own research.

"Given what you say, I'm surprised the ghost hasn't left Slythern. Did you seal the pipes? It's possible that the level of background magical energy is so high at Hogwarts that the ghost can survive in some sort of hibernation, without magical beings in close proximity. If not, it will have to leave Slytherin when it needs to feed. That may take some time. All of Hogwarts ghosts survive the summer, with all of the students away from school."

"I can certainly take on that research," Hermione volunteered. "I've finished my research on the original Gryffindor and Peverell Houses of Hogwarts and have also finished my draft of the Elven Rights bill. I had hoped to review it with the Minister, today, but I think he'll be tied up all day." Bill returned and told Barb that she was next to testify.

"I'd be happy to take a look at your draft and make suggestions," Shacklebolt suggested. "I do have some experience from my time as Minister in presenting things to the Wizengamot in a way that they are most likely to accept them."

"Thank you, I'd appreciate that," Hermione replied, handing her papers to Kingsley.

"By the way, Harry," Director Shacklebolt asked, "how are you getting along with Bill and Barb? Are they treating you well, keeping your confidences, doing what is necessary to keep you safe, and not being overly intrusive?"

"Yes, they've been great, really helpful and no bother at all," Harry replied. It was a true statement, but Harry could hardly say otherwise with Bill and Barb standing right there.

"That's wonderful," Shacklebolt replied. "Then stop trying to duck them, it's their job to always be with you. They need you to tell them in advance where you're going, what dangers you might face, and the purpose for going - at least the general purpose. That is, they need to know when you're going adventuring or ducking off to see dangerous people like Lord Montaigne or the Goblin King. Yes, the King is dangerous, and, no, Montaigne can't just order you to leave Bill behind. The Minister wants a heads-up on your plans to avoid embarrassment and to be able to help you avoid doing something stupid. Bill, Barb, and I need a heads-up to keep you alive. We'll get along well if you try harder to follow the rules. I got one black mark for almost getting myself killed, I don't want another for getting you or the Minister's children killed. If all of you don't play a little nicer, I'll have to assign more aurors to protect you. You won't like that and I have better things for them to do."

"I'm sorry," Harry replied. "I guess I'm still in the old habits of acting alone. We'll do

"Fine, enough said. I'll keep working on your ghost.

"Oh, by the way, I think you are right to be more concerned with the mystery of my second favorite restaurant than Arthur is. I know he shut you down when you first raised the issue. Have you tried to talk to him about it since then. It's fine that you and I are involved, but I think that mystery relates to the Minister's seal and we really do need to find that thing."

"Why is it so important, I asked. You and Thicknesse got along fine without it."

"Not so fine, which is partly why I hid out on my Muggle friend's estate as much as I did. Believe me, it was not just my appreciation for his sherry and fresh vegetables, which sent me there. The Ministry Building magical defenses cannot be updated in a substantial way without the seal. Thicknesse made tweaks and Arthur and I made tweaks, but that is a slow process without the seal. The core of the defenses are as Scrimgouer left them. That means that Thicknesse understands them far better than is good for our safety. Normally, each new minister makes major changes as protection against the prior incumbent and his friend. We've changed some alarm spells and layered on some additional ones, but we're not nearly as safe as I'd like to be."

"I didn't realize that this was nearly that serious a matter," Harry admitted. "I have made an effort to raise the issue with the Minister, but he brushed me off. I think it reminds him too much of Ginny and me at 10101."

"Try harder! Arthur needs to face this. Fudge has spent time in Edinburgh and so did Thicknesse. I'm not saying either of them owned a townhouse in that crescent, but I haven't been any more successful in identifying all the owners than you have. I'm thinking that Arthur should approve a group of us spending a weekend at 10101 and getting in a full ration of snooping. There's no need for Ginny to come along, so Arthur shouldn't be too upset."

"I can room with Hermione," I declared, "although I think Dad is being very silly about the whole thing. Hermione and I have done a lot of research and can be a lot of help to the rest of you. We've identified places to examine."

"Fine, but I'm not the one who objected to you and Harry at 10101. Your mother needs to talk to Arthur again. I really do need to be gone."

Harry and Kingsley appeared to still be on friendly terms as Shacklebolt excused himself and left the office. Bill was giving Harry an 'I didn't rat you out, but I do have to report my activities to my boss' look and shoulder shrug. Harry returned a 'not your fault' look.

Harry and Percy began an extensive paragraph-by-paragraph review and discussion of the Minister's current draft version of the bill to renew the Gringotts' charter. "This is perhaps the key paragraph," Percy explained. "Dad is insisting that the bank's charter only be renewed for twenty years and that it be reviewed each September, in light of the bank meeting or not meeting established goals for lending to Wizards, and deriving income from services provided to Goblins and other magical creatures other than Wizards. The whole next page establishes those minimum standards for the next twenty years, but this paragraph says that if the bank fails to meet these standards in any year, it will be on probation the next year. If it doesn't meet its standards in each of the two years after that, it will lose its privilege of exclusivity, and the Ministry will charter and fund a competing bank. If the bank does not meet the minimum standards in either of the two years following that, then its charter is cancelled."

"I understand that", Harry replied. "The standards seem to be set quite low for the first two years. Has the bank made any loans yet?"

"No, they haven't. The excuse is that they are still developing procedures and will accept applications soon. They have hired two young Wizards to work in the section of the bank that will deal with the loans. They promise to hire a third Wizard before the September meeting."

"Has this draft language been discussed with the bank?"

"There was a meeting between the Minister, Wood, the Goblin King, his aide, and Lord Montaigne. Lord Montaigne said the proposed conditions were too stringent and would destroy the bank. He complained that the bank couldn't operate with the threat of penalties hanging over it. The Goblin King said that the plan could work with 'some changes that I'll propose', but Montaigne cut him off, saying the Ministry's proposals were 'totally unacceptable and a betrayal of the spirit of cooperation between the bank and the Ministry'. Dad said he was unimpressed by the bank's pace on implementing changes and was unwilling to proceed on trust or to surrender all leverage over the bank by granting a long-term unconditional extension of the charter."

"I suspect things will go much easier if the legal actions shove Lord Montaigne out of the way. I think King Goblanze realizes that change is inevitable and will still leave him and the bank in a strong position."

"Remember, today's Wizengamot action focuses only upon Montaigne's fitness to be Keeper. The resolution of his criminal charges could take quite a while longer. This could keep him in charge of the crucial third vote on the bank's Board past the September meeting."

"I don't think that matters. Now that he can no longer blackmail the King and the King is angry at him, I think Lord Montaigne loses September's vote 4 – 1, unless he has some other threat …"

At that moment, I was called away to testify before the Wizengamot. I went down the elevator to the basement and walked to the entrance of the courtroom, where I was met by a court auror.

"They're not quite ready for you, so you can sit with me on this outside bench and I'll explain the procedure to you. The first thing that I should tell you is that the court will use truth detectors, so you will be in serious trouble if you try to give false testimony."

"I didn't realize that the Wizengamot has truth detector devices."

"It doesn't. It employs two witches who are adept at detecting liars. If they both declare that you have lied, you may be charged with giving false testimony.

"The lawyers are not permitted to abuse a witness. If you believe that a lawyer is personally attacking you, or asking questions that invade your privacy and are not germane to the case before the court, then you may request the Wizengamot's permission not to answer. Further, you have the right to give a full and complete answer and none of the lawyers are permitted to interrupt your answer, as long as what you are saying is germane and permissible testimony.

"Permissible testimony is only things you know to be true, based upon what you have seen or heard yourself. You cannot draw conclusions or testify based on what you think might be true or on what somebody else told you is true. There is an exception on interpretation for witnesses who are asked to testify as experts, but I doubt you qualify as expert at anything. Not being rude, that is simply fact. You may be asked to relay what someone told you. As the girlfriend of the Deputy Minister and daughter of the Minister, you may refuse to answer some questions if you believe that the answer would reveal a state secret or reveal something the Minister or Deputy Minister learned in the course of their duties which would be harmful to the Wizarding community if revealed. The Wizengamot has the final say as to whether or not you must answer any particular question, but you needn't be shy about objecting to a question.

"You are allowed to ask for water or a short break to satisfy a personal need. I think that covers everything. Do you understand what I've told you?"

I said I did and we settled back to wait for me to be allowed into the courtroom. It was about a five minute wait and then I was brought in to testify. As a witness, I was required to stand before the Wizengamot. I was asked if the ground rules had been explained to me and if I understood them and if I promised to be truthful. That out of the way, I was asked about our discovery of the bomb. I told of Lord Montaigne telling us about the role of the Keeper and the Keeper's assistants, and about him pointing out the tunnel from the Reception Hall that he said went all the way to the castle. I told of exploring that tunnel the night before the conclusion of Bruce's trial and finding the rail cart with what Hermione said was a bomb. I described what the apparatus looked like and how we had replaced, what the lawyers said I could only refer to as 'clayey bricks' with modeling clay.

When asked why we decided to explore the tunnel, I said we, or at least I, was concerned by comments that Lord Montaigne had made about actions that he might take if Bruce's trial didn't go well. I said the other part of the reason for concern might be in the state secret area. I was called into a small meeting with Dad, the Goblin King, Madam Bones, and Lord Montaigne's lawyer. When I told them that I had knowledge from viewing memories left by Dumbledore, they all said that was inadmissible testimony, in any case, since Dumbledore could not be questioned regarding the provenance of those memories. It was left that I should merely state that we all had personal suspicions that were not based upon valid evidence. I told of seeing Lord Montaigne pushing the button and pushing the button and asking "why won't this thing explode?" and then saying that he acted because the Wizengamot had imposed a horribly cruel sentence upon his son. All of these questions had come from Madam Bones.

The Goblin King asked "I'm trying to understand your motivation for making the dangerous trip through the tunnel. Were you afraid that Lord Montaigne planned to destroy the source of magic?" That question was not allowed. Lord Montaigne's lawyer and Dad agreed that my answer could only be a theory and that my reason for entering the tunnel was largely irrelevant. The King only asked whether Lord Montaigne had told me that the source of magic lay adjacent to the Reception Hall, and I replied that he had. He asked if the bomb would have destroyed the source of magic, and I had to respond that I knew almost nothing about bombs and couldn't possibly answer that.

Lord Montaigne's lawyer asked me to give a detailed account of the training that Lord Montaigne had provided to me as an assistant Keeper. I did that. He then asked, "Did it strike you that he took his job as Keeper seriously and that he was meticulous in instructing you on your duties and impressing the importance of those duties upon you." I answered "yes," before Madam Bones objected. He asked me "Do you, in fact, take your assistant duties seriously and would you diligently protect the source of the magic?"

I answered "yes."

He then grilled me extensively on how Cissy and Harry accepted their duties, looking at Madam Bones as he stressed, "Based upon what Cissy and Harry have said in your presence, how you have observed them to act, including whether they kept close attention to Lord Montaigne's instruction."

I explained that I thought they were both trying to do a good job, that they approached the instruction seriously and answered Lord Montaigne's questions largely correctly, that neither was at all humorous with respect to these duties."

"From your observations of Cissy, would you describe her as a serious, intelligent, mature girl?"

"She seems to be very mature for a second year. She also seems to be very intelligent. She was not at all well versed in magical skills when we first met her. Harry, Hermione, and I have been teaching her this past month and she seems to learn quickly. She is very well versed in her father's business affairs and in the use of Muggle office machines."

"Would you feel comfortable that the Keeper duties were being performed diligently and well if Cissy were the Keeper? I'm talking a few years in the future, not necessarily right now, assuming the Goblin King continued to instruct Cissy and Harry."

"Yes, I would."

"Do you think Cissy could learn to do a better job as Keeper than Harry could?"

"No."

"Is it very important for the Keeper to be able to control the Hogwarts land, including the forest sanctuary, and keep Muggles from entering it? Is that a primary duty of the Keeper?"

"Yes."

"Would Harry be able to do that?"

"Yes, the restitution agreement provides for Harry to buy that portion of the Montaigne estate if he becomes the Keeper. He has the money in the bank to do that."

"Would it be easier to safeguard that land if the Keeper owned the entire Montaigne estate, including most of Hogsmeade?"

"In one sense yes, because a larger surrounding area could be kept free of Muggles, but in another way no, because the death taxes would be larger."

"Did Harry ever tell you his views on the possibility of claiming his Montaigne heritage as the next Lord Montaigne?"

"Yes, he did. He didn't think the Muggles or the Muggle government could accept that, because of his background in the Muggle world as the poor relation of his aunt and uncle." With that, I was excused.

The rest of the testimony was interesting. Hermione was questioned extensively about her knowledge of Muggle bombs and exactly what she did to disarm Lord Montaigne's bomb. She was also asked to describe how she identified the bombs at the Ministry and whether she had 'an especial love of explosions'. She indignantly shouted "No!", only to have Lord Montaigne's lawyer apologize, but suggest "you seem to be quite the most expert Witch on Muggle bombs. Are you sure that you didn't create the very bomb which you discovered that night?"

"Again, no!" Hermione replied. "I'm not in the habit of building bombs for hire, and it wasn't I who was caught delivering or trying to explode the bomb. It wasn't I whose son testified that his father kept Muggle explosives."

Harry was questioned extensively about the deficiencies in his background arising from not growing up in a Wizarding home, about his thoughts on Cissy's abilities, about whether he thought Lord Montaigne cared about the Wizarding community, and about his thoughts on Lord Montaigne's state of mind the last several days.

The last two questions caused a lot of stirring among the lawyers, but Harry was eventually told to proceed carefully and indicate what observations caused him to form the impression he was voicing. Harry said he felt Lord Montaigne cared far more for his own family and a nostalgic view of a past 'traditional Wizard lifestyle', than he did for the fortunes of the general Wizard community. This testimony was parsed with objections from the various lawyers, amidst Harry's examples dealing with Lord Montaigne's comments about Bruce, some of what Cissy had told us, Lord Montaigne's actions on the Gringotts board, and Lord Montaigne's separation from Wizard life. The whole Wizengamot spent a half hour debating this ruling and decided that testimony on what happened at the bank would have to come from Dad and the Goblin King, despite their role in the hearing.

The Wizard King gave lengthy testimony, and Dad less so, as they described Lord Montaigne's actions on the Gringotts' Board and his attitude toward Wizard progress. The Wizengamot had a half hour debate on 'progress' in the midst of deciding whether or not to credit this testimony, and then we took a break for food. Harry, Hermione, George, and I had to eat separate from the others, who had yet to testify. We didn't have more than a half hour to eat, but shared our impression that the whole testimony thing had been a little surreal, and that Lord Montaigne's lawyer seemed more intent on protecting Cissy's future role as Keeper than in protecting Lord Montaigne's present hold on that role.

When we returned to the courtroom, Cissy gave extensive testimony, both on a few things that her father had said to her, but more extensively on her background, training, and suitability as a future Keeper. There was a half hour break as the lawyers and then the whole Wizengamot debated the appropriateness of questions relating to Cissy's and her brother's mental stability and the suitability of a Witch to hold the Montaigne and Keeper titles. This latter was viewed out of order and the former was required to be addressed gingerly, until Madam Bones finally had the court rule in her favor that the only issue before the Wizengamot was Lord Montaigne's suitability to remain as Keeper, not which Montaigne or even if any Montaigne would be the next Keeper. That ended Cissy's testimony and quickly dispensed with the possibility of Dr. Sprout or Dr. White as witnesses.

The final witness was Lord Montaigne. He claimed "a brief mental derangement associated with the stress over my worries about my son's fate." When reminded that he had the bomb materials in his possession for some time, he replied "I've been stressed over Bruce's actions and fate for some time, and I only had the bomb materials for a short portion of that time."

Madam Bones did not appear inclined to press for a definition of 'a short time'. Lord Montaigne recounted at great length his duties as Keeper, the seriousness with which he approached this 'burden', and his repeated attempts to convince Bruce to "pick up this familial responsibility to his fellow magical creatures." He was questioned about disparaging statements he had made about other 'lesser' magical creatures, his arms-length relationship with Wizard traditions, and his gripes about the unfairness of the burden of being Keeper.

He replied that he felt "an awesome, yet I knew vitally important, responsibility that I was uniquely equipped to bear. Yes, as a young Wizard I rebelled against the constraints imposed by this responsibility, but I grew into it with age. My major fault is allowing my disappointment in and concern for Bruce to transform into bitterness against the Wizengamot, for simply exercising its own awesome responsibility. For this, I humbly apologize."

As Dad remarked that it was nearly time for another food break, Lord Montaigne's lawyer asked if the Wizengamot could take"an early and extended break to permit negotiation of a resolution of this painful situation?" Dad agreed, so we went off to lunch again. This time Cissy joined us. The courtroom had been tense enough that I wasn't able to face anything heavier than a vegetable omelet. I was nearly finished eating this, and Cissy and Harry were halfway through a full dinner, when a court auror appeared at our table and informed us that Cissy and Harry were required in Dad's office. Bill went with them, but motioned for Barb to remain with us.

I spent the wait chatting with Barb, George, and Hermione. The discussion turned to the nature of an auror's work and what additional training was required to get hired into that spot. I was very interested in what Barb might have to say, not because I had any burning desire to be an auror, but rather because that had always been a goal of Harry's.

"It is not as interesting a job as it appears from the outside," Barb explained. "A lot of it is the rather boring business of guarding prisoners, sitting on guard duty or walking rounds at the Ministry, investigating rather insignificant thefts and criminal mischief, standing as a guard in a courtroom, and protecting people like yourself. Following Harry and the rest of you has been more interesting than anything else I've done since I became an apprentice auror five and a half years ago. I've spent half my auror career in training classes, and will continue to be trained for the next couple years. To be an auror, you need to have very good test scores at Hogwarts, recommendations from your headmaster or professors, athleticism, and a high tolerance for boredom. I can't seriously imagine Harry wanting to trade what he does for what I do.

"This is fairly interesting work, all in all, and I have a strong sense of serving the Wizard community. It really is probably the best possible job for me, especially since Witches are still discriminated against in a lot of job opportunities. Since I've been an auror, I've worked with your Dad on investigating offenses like exploding Muggle toilets and other bewitched Muggle gear. This recently got me involved in the sweeping of the Ministry for Muggle bombs and spying devices. Minister Shacklebolt thought I was better versed in Muggle technology than the older aurors. It helped that I'm Muggle-born and always had computers and cell phones available when I was home from Hogwarts. Most aurors have little understanding of such things, since there aren't many Muggle-born, or even all that many young, aurors. Most of my time as an auror was spent either on night guard duty at the Ministry or daytime anti-theft patrol in Diagon Alley. It is all important work, but not exactly on a par with hunting down Voldemort or solving the mysteries of what lies beneath Hogwarts. Playing a role in foiling the bombing of the Reception Hall and testifying in court are the highlights of my career, thus far."

I found the conversation relaxing enough that I fetched and ate a large salad and also an ice cream sundae for dessert. When I returned with my salad, George and Barb were discussing the nature of life as an inventor and purveyor of novelties to children. Both Hermione and Barb were effusively complimenting George on his initiative and risk-taking, and marveling at the degree of self-sufficiency that he had achieved. George gave most of the credit for the creativity to Lee and said that without Harry's financial help, he could not possibly be living this dream.

"That is why I am so determined that we all keep pushing until Gringotts starts making loans so that young Wizards can start their own businesses. I'm still going to push Harry and Dad to set up an alternative organization to focus just on the need to make loans to young Wizards wanting to strike out on their own. I'm sure Harry would be willing to put up some money to start the process and the Ministry should, also. It will take Gringotts all of my lifetime to feel confident enough to loan any amount of money to Wizards who are just recently out of Hogwarts. Lots of guys like Lee, Fred, and I had the ideas and the ambition, but without the money, it's just back to working with Dad on the farm or some really minor, nearly meaningless job at the Ministry.

"There aren't even enough of those to go around. Remember when McGonagall said that the Voldemort war would create a lot of opportunity in the short term. That has certainly been true, but you shouldn't confuse yourself thinking the opportunities that Cho, Ernie, Wood, and Seamus had were at all what was typical for Hogwarts grads two years ago, or what will be typical two years from now. A lot of jobs went vacant when Wizards died or were thrown in jail. The need to rebuild created some other jobs, and you've pushed Gringotts to create a handful of jobs that they normally would not have had. It's all well and good that Charlie has gotten a chance to play with his dragons - he wrote that he's bringing a nice one back for Gringotts by the way - but Charlie didn't have a whole lot of other career choices, and the dragon work only gives him enough galleons to live on, because he's happy living alone and camping in the wild. You realize that he doesn't even have a house or apartment, not even a place that he shares with buddies. In fact …"

Bill returned and said we were all wanted, all except George that is, in Dad's office.

When we entered the Minister's conference room Dad declared "we have a potential negotiated solution to both the Keeper situation and the criminal charges against Lord Montaigne." As we took our seats, I noted that Dad, Madam Bones, the Goblin King, Director Shacklebolt, Lord Montaigne, and Montaigne's lawyer were already present.

"Here's the tentative deal," Dad began. "Lord Montaigne will immediately resign as Keeper and as a Director of Gringotts. He will not be imprisoned, but will agree to bans on leaving Britain or coming in contact with Muggles, to whom he will be reported to have died in a sailing accident. He will participate in a well-observed departure from Glasgow, and then will go missing. He will pay a fine of 10,000 gold galleons.

"Cissy will assume the title of Lady Montaigne and the Montaigne seat of the Gringotts board. Harry will take over as interim Keeper, with a decision to be made between Harry and Cissy when Cissy completes her senior year at Hogwarts, under the same arrangements as originally negotiated. Harry will purchase the southern third of the Montaigne estate under the pre-agreed terms, subject to the condition that Cissy can buy back that land for an additional 15% if she becomes Keeper.

"The Goblin King will continue to train Harry and Cissy as Keepers. Until she graduates from Hogwarts, Cissy will have the status of a Keeper assistant and trainee Keeper. Lord Montaigne will surrender his wand and be banned for life from carrying a wand. He will not leave the Montaigne estate for the next twenty years. He and Bruce will be guarded at the castle by aurors, who will enforce all of the above restrictions. You all must agree to the negotiated settlement and it must be ratified by the Wizengamot."

"I think we should meet to discuss this without the Montaignes and their lawyer," Harry suggested.

"The proposed settlement will be withdrawn by the other side if we don't approve it and agree to endorse it at this meeting, with Lord Montaigne and his lawyer present," Dad clarified.

"Then I don't approve it," Harry responded. "I won't oppose it publicly. The decision belongs to you and Madam Bones and the Wizengamot. It doesn't require my support. My view is you're giving away a lot for nothing in return, and will cause an irreparable breach with the French and German Wizards. Do you approve this, King Goblanze?"

"With extreme reluctance."

"I don't see how our opinion matters," Hermione said, "but I agree with Harry. That was a very large bomb. It could have destroyed Hogwarts and killed us all."

"Can you talk sense to them, Kingsley?" Dad beseeched.

"I'm sorry, Arthur. It's just not a good deal. I think this administration has gone completely soft. I'll resign before publicly endorsing that agreement."

Dad was about to speak, but Madam Bones quickly cut in "there are things you don't understand, which make this deal necessary."

"Then explain them to us," Harry replied.

"I'm not at liberty to do that."

We all sat in silence, until Dad finally concluded, "It seems like we don't have a deal under the terms you propose. Madam Bones and I are still willing to present the deal to the Wizengamot, without the support of the others."

"I really don't think that's possible," Lord Montaigne replied.

"Then we don't have a deal and the hearing will resume tomorrow," Dad told Lord Montaigne.

"If I could have a word with my client," Lord Montaigne's lawyer suggested, drawing Montaigne off to a vacant corner of the room. We observed hushed, but agitated discussion. The lawyer returned to the table and announced "in the interest of resolving this matter, we permit a thirty minute discussion among the original participants, less us, and Deputy Minister Potter. Perhaps if you can convince the Deputy Minister to accept the deal, the others will also go along."

"I'm willing to try that," Dad responded. I and most of the others, including the aurors, left the conference room, leaving only Harry, Dad, Madame Bones, and Shacklebolt.

We waited outside the office for an hour, with Lord Montaigne becoming visibly stressed as the time passed well beyond the allotted half hour. He finally asked if Prudence could check on the state of negotiations. Prudence knocked three times, then very loudly three more times, before sticking her head into the conference room. She came back to report "you'll have to wait a while longer. The Minister is not ready to speak to you, yet." Fifteen minutes later, Dad stuck his head out the door and asked Lord Montaigne and his lawyer to re-enter the room. Fifteen minutes later they emerged, but nothing was said beyond the lawyer's comment "you're going to have to wait just a little longer. They have more to discuss."

Ten minutes later, the lawyer and Lord Montaigne were once again summoned to the conference room. Ten minutes later we were all asked to rejoin the meeting.

"The deal is the same as before, except for several minor changes," Dad began. "Lord Montaigne and Bruce are to be confined in a house in Godric's Hollow, instead of at the castle. Cissy is allowed to visit her family for six hours at Christmas and at the end of the school year, but the visits will be supervised by Harry, Ginny, and Harry's aurors to guarantee that no instructions are passed to Cissy as to how she should conduct her duties as assistant and trainee Keeper, as a Director of Gringotts' Bank, or as Lady Montaigne. Discussion during the visits is to be limited to family reminiscences, how her family has passed its time, and Cissy's education. If Harry reports that the boundaries have been crossed, future visits will be canceled. Cissy will be allowed to visit her family without supervision after she turns eighteen and graduates from Hogwarts.

"Lord Montaigne's confinement will be twenty six years. The Ministry will provide a house Elf at the house in Godric's Hollow. The Elf as well as the auror guards will report on the Montaignes' behavior to Kingsley, Madam Bones, Harry, and me. Lord Montaigne has promised, and will make an unbreakable vow, not to attempt to escape and not to reveal any information to anyone concerning this deal, anything he knows about the Goblins, the Keeper, the business of the Ministry, and any of us; nor will he pass any information harmful to the Ministry, King Goblanze, the British Muggle government, or any of us for a period of thirty years. He will also vow that for the rest of his life, he will take no action to finance, encourage, or support the overthrow of the Goblin government or any of the elected Wizard governments, and that he will provide assistance to the Keeper or the Minister whenever called upon.

"Bruce will take the same unbreakable vow. Lord Montaigne will be allowed one day trip per year to hunt deer or small game in a secluded portion of the estate, during which time he will remain invisible to Muggles and make no attempt to communicate with anyone, including Cissy or her estate staff.

"Lord Montaigne will ask his two key supporters in the Wizengamot to support the Elven Rights bill. He will communicate nothing else to them.

"Are all of you willing to support this agreement?"

Harry said, "Given the circumstances, I'll support the deal."

Kingsley said, "I agree to do likewise."

The rest of us nodded our heads yes. That finished the negotiations. Dad said the deal would be presented to the Wizengamot in the morning. He also said, "please don't badger Harry, he is not allowed to reveal anything more about the deal, the necessity for it, or the back and forth discussions leading up to it than what you already know. This is for your benefit as well as the benefit of the Wizarding community, myself, and the Montaignes. This is one of those less than totally savory things that a government is sometimes required to involve itself in."

After arriving back at Hogwarts, we paid a quick courtesy stop at Professor McGonagall's office in order to relay the sanitized version of our day's events. I gave the update to the Professor and when she asked Harry if there was anything more he would like to add, he replied, "yes, but I'm not permitted to add anything."

We headed back to Gryffindor, where we repeated this performance. The circle took this relatively well, but Mom was a bit indignant, especially when she said she would just ask Dad, directly, and Harry replied, "He won't tell you anything more than Ginny just told you." Mom just shook her head and muttered "this is certainly going to play well in the press. I can't begin to think what Arthur or I can say to the Delacours."

"Now that the Montaignes are getting off, what I would certainly consider, lightly," Draco commented "what's going to happen to my Dad?"

"He will be asked to plead guilty, make an unbreakable vow as the Montaignes will do, and be released on time served and promise of good behavior," Harry replied.

"That must have been quite some meeting," Draco responded. "I'm guessing you're responsible for the quick resolution of my Dad's case."

"I pushed it, but it was the Minister's decision. The Wizengamot will have to bless the deal."

"I can tell this Montaigne deal really hurts you."

"I knew there would be days like this when I agreed to be Deputy Minister. I support the deal as the best available choice for the magical world. I can say nothing more than that."

Later when I had Harry alone, I made the mistake of jokingly telling Harry "surely you can tell me what really happened. You know that I can keep a secret."

Harry gave me a worried look as he replied "No, I really can't and I thought you understood that. It really was true when I told your mother that Arthur won't tell her anything. It would violate his duties as Minister to say anything. It's the same for me."

Later, I sensed a reluctance to even touch hands, let alone snog. I really regretted my earlier remark. How could I fix this? I told Harry, "I expect that your thoughts won't be on politics while we're snogging and if anything ever leaks out, I would die rather than tell a soul. You realize that I can't read your mind, other than what you are actively trying to communicate, although if you're thinking something really hard, sometimes I do pick up a little."

"I think I knew that," Harry replied.

"I wasn't asking for any content, but I'm not stupid. It was clear to me that when Prudence checked on your meeting, after you'd been at it for an hour, that none of you were still in the conference room. I'm certain that Lord Montaigne realized the same thing, although Prudence did a really good job of pretending you were all still in the room."

"I can't comment upon that either. Your intelligence is one of the things I love about you."

"What bothers me is that I have this gut feel that part of what you can't tell me relates to my future and the prophecies involving us and our children. It just seems unfair not to know. I want to be able to do what's necessary to protect myself and our children."

"I understand that you're upset. Arthur fully understands how upset Molly is going to be. This is one of the burdens that we each assumed when we ran for our offices. You and Molly took on a burden as well, when you encouraged us to run. We can't ethically share everything with you. I can honestly say that sharing likely makes things worse. If the secrecy gets to be too much of a problem between us, I'm willing to resign. For now, let me just say I know nothing that will prevent you and our children from fulfilling your destinies. The secret deal may even make that more likely. Although I can't even give you a hint on the secrets, please believe that it is better that one of the five of us knows the truth, than that all of us are in the dark. Your dad and I really made the best decision that we could, and we considered everyone's interests very carefully."

"I understand that Harry, and I don't want you to quit. I'm just very curious, by nature, especially regarding anything that involves me."

"I know, I'm the same way. Now, I'm going to take a few minutes to remove political issues from my mind, before I get any closer to you."


	53. Chapter 53

**Chapter Fifty-Three – Professor Hermione Granger**

We were up early the next morning for the trip to the Ministry, finishing breakfast before even the early rising Professor McGonagall put in an appearance. Harry left a note saying we had gone to the Ministry, so that Professor McGonagall didn't have to worry that we had been abducted by stray Death Eaters.

As early as we arrived at Harry's office, Percy and Shacklebolt were waiting for us. "Should we leave you alone, so you can meet with Harry?" I asked.

"Percy will give Harry, you, and Ron the daily update. I came primarily to meet with Hermione on the Elf bill. The Minister wants to move it this afternoon, and I've made some suggested changes. Before Harry departs, let me just thank him for his efforts to improve yesterday's deal. I can live with the final deal. I would have hated to retire before getting the Auror Corps totally whipped back into shape. Now that we've Montaigne behind us, I also want to remind Harry to talk to Arthur about 10101. Paper-based research is well and good, but I want to start exploring sooner rather than later."

We went into Harry's office along with Bill and Barb. Percy got right to the briefing. "The Wizengamot will resume sitting in forty minutes. Last night's deal has been reduced to writing and the former Lord Montaigne, the Minister, Madam Bones, and the Goblin King have signed it. You'll be asked to attend a press event later this morning to voice your support. The Lucius Malfoy agreement has also been reduced to writing and signed. The Wizengamot will take that up as soon as they finish with Montaigne. All of the unbreakable vows should be taken by lunchtime. Madam Bones and Director Shacklebolt will supervise that and the transfers of the Montaignes to a secret house in Godric's Hollow.

"He didn't say anything, but from his mood I think the Minister is secretly pleased that you opposed the initial deal, yesterday. The Goblin King is very close to agreeing terms on the charter extension, and the present form is almost unchanged from what we reviewed yesterday. Gwenog Jones's appointment as Minister of Sports goes before the Wizengamot this afternoon. You also will be finalizing a major land purchase this afternoon.

"Tomorrow morning, all of you, including Cissy, have a meeting with the Goblin King at Gringotts. That is at 9:00 A.M. and I gather that you will be staying for lunch. Unless you have any questions, you had best be headed down to the courtroom. I have your passes here. One last thing: the dragon was delivered to Gringotts yesterday afternoon, so your obligation to the bank is fully settled. I have a certificate from the bank attesting to that. Here is your copy."

The remainder of the hearing was uneventful. We waited in our seats for nearly an hour before the action began in earnest. Then Madam Bones read the proposed agreement, Lord Montaigne said he concurred, the Goblin King and Dad said the same. The Wizengamot recessed for forty minutes to discuss the proposal in private and then came back and voted to accept the deal, with about three quarters voting yes. I noticed that the same thin, old gray-haired Wizard who had been voting against us on everything, voted no again. No sooner had the former Lord Montaigne and his lawyer left the courtroom, than Lucius Malfoy and his attorney entered.

Lucius pled guilty to use of prohibited curses and associating with persons who conspired to overthrow the government. Madam Bones dropped all other charges and declared that in return for the guilty plea, she had a recommendation on sentencing. Lucius would receive a sentence of ten years in prison, which would be suspended other than time already served, would make the same unbreakable vow as the Montaignes, and promise to refrain from future criminal or political activity. If he failed to meet the terms of the agreement, he would be returned to prison. Surprisingly, Lucius proved less popular than the former Lord Montaigne - - not much more than half of the Wizengamot approved the deal. The vote was close enough that Dad had to count hands.

I asked Harry, "who is that really old, gray-haired Wizard in the funny robes, who always votes against our position"

"That's Gowan Frakes. He used to be the most famous Wizard lawyer until he retired over a decade ago, but he's still very sharp, and determined to keep his Wizengamot seat until he dies. There is no suggestion that he took any role in the Voldemort wars. He is a very traditionalist Great Family member and the leader of the most conservative faction in the Wizengamot. He's a bit of an oddity, because he is not a pureblood, but is more traditionalist than the purebloods. His mother was a Parkinson and his father was a Muggle ship owner. He gets along with all the Great Families, except the Parkinsons, because he feels they mistreated his mother. I asked about him after Bruce's trial. Percy says he is a hundred and fifty-five years old and that he was Grindelwald's lawyer, when Grindelwald was palling around with Dumbledore, and before he was retired he was Lord Montaigne's lawyer. He lives in a big, antique townhouse in Edinborough. He is certainly not going to support the Elven Rights bill or most anything that our administration proposes."

"And do you know exactly where this antique townhouse is located," I asked Harry.

Harry slapped his forehead and pleaded rush of so much business causing him to lose his edge. "Please check it out with Hermione. He's just the sort of Wizard to have a long-term holding in the 10101 crescent. I can't believe I missed that."

The members of the Wizengamot seemed a little surprised when Dad announced that he was distributing copies of the Elven Rights bill for their consideration. He also informed them that he hoped to have a bill to extend the Gringotts charter in their hands in the very near future. As the courtroom emptied, we headed back to the Minister's Conference Room for our meeting with the press.

It was a sort of lame press meeting, without much information being provided beyond what the reporters had already been able to learn by watching the Wizengamot proceedings. In the courtroom, the location of the Montaignes incarceration had only been identified as 'an unidentified fairly standard Wizard house in a location which for security reasons must remain undisclosed, and which may change at some future time as security requirements dictate.' Naturally the first question from the Daily Prophet reporter, who was not Ernie, was "where are the Montaignes going to be detained and can you guarantee our readers that they are not going to simply be allowed to live in their own luxury castle?"

Madam Bones responded "I cannot give you the location, other than to categorically deny that they will be staying in Montaigne castle. As you should know from today's proceedings, the location is being kept secret for security reasons, but I can categorically state that they are not going to Montaigne Castle. Cissy will be staying in the castle when not at Hogwarts, and the agreement severely limits contact between either the former Lord Montaigne or Bruce with Cissy."

"Why is the government insisting upon limiting contact?"

"Firstly, because we don't want the former Lord Montaigne or his son remotely controlling Gringotts through Cissy, or directing her actions as a trainee Keeper. Secondly, because Cissy has stated that her brother groped her prior to her first school term. The agreed restriction protects her and the Wizard community."

"This one's for Harry Potter - are you really willing to support this deal?"

"Yes. Given the circumstances, which I am not allowed to get into, I am convinced that this deal serves the best interests of all parties and prevents the Montaignes from engaging in future mischief, at least for the next twenty-six years."

"Again for Harry, don't you think that allowing the Montaignes to live together in a semi-normal setting is an overly soft sentence?"

"They will be strictly supervised by the Auror Corps, and their movements severely limited. Frankly, I think they deserve each other's company."

"This is for Director Shacklebolt: what is your reaction to these two villains avoiding jail after embarrassing your Auror Corps with bombings in Diagon Alley and a threat to destroy Hogwarts and magic in most of Britain - a threat that your aurors failed to detect?"

"I'm satisfied with the deal. Both Montaignes will be incarcerated for a long time. Azkaban is currently not a viable option in any case. I'm not embarrassed at all about the aurors' performance. I led a team of aurors who captured the former Lord Montaigne. Bruce was caught fairly quickly after he started his bombing campaign, and my aurors participated in his capture."

"Follow-up question: it seems to me that Harry Potter and the other Hogwarts students took the lead on both of these captures."

"The Minister assigned the Deputy Minister to conduct an independent investigation of these threats. I participated in all of these delegation decisions and was fully informed of the efforts of the Deputy Minister and his associates."

"Back to Harry: Don't you think the aurors should have provided more help to you?"

"The aurors were very helpful. They captured the French usurper Minister LeDoux when we led him into a trap at Hogwarts. They participated in Bruce's capture and they captured the former Lord Montaigne. They provided us with the information that we needed to continue our investigations. This is in stark contrast to the obstruction of our efforts to chase down Voldemort by the aurors and Ministry or prior administrations. Most of our efforts were conducted either on the Continent or in subterranean areas that only a trainee or assistant Keeper could access."

"Again to Harry: shouldn't our aurors have access to the Reception Hall and tunnels to prevent just this sort of problem?"

"That's not the way that is set up under the Covenant. The Goblins have primary control over much of that area. As co-Keeper and Deputy Minister, I certainly plan to discuss with the Goblin King possible ways to increase security of these areas."

"This is for the Minister: would you agree that this lenient sentence makes your administration look weak? Doesn't the lenient treatment of Lucius Malfoy do the same? It would seem that both of these defendants are somehow blackmailing you."

"I can assure you that I have done nothing to open myself to blackmail. I indicated during the campaign that I would focus upon reconciliation, rather than retribution. Any other factors relating to the deal are state secrets that I cannot reveal. I would not call the sentences of the Montaignes super-lenient. Bruce will be incarcerated for his entire life. That he shares his confinement with his father for the first twenty-six years doesn't significantly change that. For his father, that is quite a long sentence. For the Wizarding community, stripping the former Lord Montaigne of his authority increases their security and opens up bank loans to permit progress and improved economic conditions."

Wood jumped up to announce, "I'll have to cut off the press conference at one more question. The Minister has to move on to his next meeting."

"To the Minister: what is so important that you have to cut off our questions?"

"As you should know, that is not a question that I normally am able to answer. I don't see any problem telling you that I need to work on the agreement for extension of the Gringotts Bank charter. I'm anxious to start loans flowing to Wizards. I'm also working on setting up a second entity that would make loans available to recent Hogwarts graduates who wish to start businesses. These are the Wizards who need work and can provide fresh energy, but would likely be viewed as unsuitable loan risks by Gringotts. Thank you for attending this conference, but we really have to leave."

Everyone, including Dad, headed back to Harry's office to get away from the reporters. Dad gave an update on negotiations with the Goblins. "The biggest remaining issue on the Gringotts' extension is reducing the exclusivity to permit the alternate lending mechanism for young Wizards. King Goblanze still needs some convincing and then there is the question of how we will finance that agency."

"My mother, Harry, and I are willing to invest part of our restitution settlements into the new agency," Hermione offered, "but to avoid any conflict of interest questions, I think we should be the backstop source of funds, with priority given to however much Ministry money the Wizengamot is willing to commit, and then how much other Wizards want to invest."

"That's a reasonable approach. A problem in dealing with the King on this is what interest rates will be charged to borrowers and paid to investors. These loans will naturally be a little riskier than the loans the bank will be making. The Gringotts loans will charge 3% interest and they will pay those who deposit for the purpose of loans a guaranteed 1%. I was thinking the new agency would pay 1-1/2% interest and charge 4%. At least that is what I'd like to propose, realizing that the Wizengamot will likely want to tinker with the numbers. If Harry can spare Percy, he and Wood could start drafting the language of the bill to set up the agency."

"That's fine," Harry replied. "I think we'll head back to Hogwarts as soon as I get the land transfer finished. Has Lord Montaigne taken his vows yet?"

"Madam Bones and Montaigne's lawyer will meet you here when that's finished. Then you, Bill, and Shacklebolt are off to a Muggle lawyers' office to complete the land purchase. You have the restitution funds in the Bank of England account that the Muggle Treasury explained as your share of the inheritance that Petunia and Dudley also received. Here they come now, off you go!"

"I have another issue to raise," Hermione importuned Dad. Getting a look that said 'alright, but be quick about it', she proceeded, "I'm disappointed that there hasn't yet been a bill before the Wizengamot to expand the number of eligible voters, especially the half of Witches who aren't eligible to vote, now."

"Believe me, I'm still strongly committed to doing that," Dad answered her, "but there is a maximum speed at which the public and especially the opposition will permit me to push what we would call progress. For the immediate future, you'll have to choose between expanded voter rolls or Elven rights."

"It seems unfair for Witches to have to wait for their rights, but I realize that abolishing the slavery of intelligent beings has to take precedence over more Witches being able to vote. I hope you realize how galling it is to have to make that choice. I certainly am not going to be happy delaying for long."

"Neither am I, but I'm sure the opposition will insist upon stalling this until after the Wizengamot election. That's on the Spring Equinox, by the way.

The rest of us had to return to Hogwarts for Hermione's rescheduled lecture, prior to Harry's return. Harry wandered in after Hermione had covered the first third of her material, and sat behind the rest of us. Harry knew all of that, anyway. Harry hadn't missed anything he didn't already know, but soon after he arrived, Hermione began discussing the written agreement among the Hogwarts founders.

"The agreement was written midway through the construction of Hogwarts and signed by Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Peverell. They state that the agreement focuses on the operating principles of the school, apart from the older agreements that provided for the school's founding. They pledge to rotate the headmaster position among themselves, every two years. They commit to the shared purpose of educating 'both Witches and Wizards, whether pureblood or born to Muggle, in the ways of the positive magicks, Wizard history, the fine and useful arts, and all else necessary for these youth to successfully take their place in the Wizard world. Hogwarts is to be a place of refuge and healing, apart from the conflicts of the larger world, where all students are seen as equal and nurtured by a faculty chosen from among the most highly educated Witches and Wizards of proven good character'. Later they speak of Hogwarts as the 'storehouse of the accumulated knowledge of the Wizarding world and the future source of improved magicks that may be of benefit to the community as well as arts to grace the existence of all magical creatures'.

"Then something went seriously wrong and the Muggle-born Wizards were consigned to the stables at the insistence of Slytherin and the then Lord Montaigne. That satisfied Lord Montaigne, but not Slytherin. I found a note from Helga Hufflepuff stating that Slytherin found it 'increasingly dangerous to share the secrets of Wizard power with the lesser Muggle-born, who will inevitably use this knowledge to help their Muggle brethren destroy us. It is beyond foolish to arm your future foes. I intend to banish from Hogwarts those whose loyalty must be suspect, as they were not born into our world. Ours is a harsh existence and we cannot trust the continued loyalty of those who have known an easier journey.' That's when the other founders decided that Slytherin could not be permitted his turn as headmaster. He viewed this rebuke as a harsh betrayal and became even more embittered. There is a note from Slytherin to Lord Montaigne, in which Slytherin declares 'you know that I view keeping the Muggle-born in the stables and limiting their education to be a very inadequate defense of our world. Granting that I prefer you to the idiot Hufflepuff, I still see you as a traitor to our kind.' So, the Muggles stayed in the stables and their situation became even more horrible. I've brought these drawings and paintings of what the stables looked like, with the dorm on top of them. Soon, the Muggle-born Gryffindors were reduced to the status of slaves, as Lord Montaigne edged ever closer to Slytherin's thinking. In May 1469, Thomas Boot led his fellow Gryffindors is a desperate escape to freedom. He left this note".

When Hermione finished reading, there were a lot of teary faces in the room. "Percy and I checked the old Ministry records and visited Muggle libraries to learn the fate of the escapees. Thomas Boot and twelve others of the thirty-nine Gryffindors who escaped made it to safety in Wales. The Gryffindors were weak from poor feeding at Hogwarts, and a dozen died during their flight before they could set up a permanent settlement. The other fifteen escapees were caught by the Muggle police, on Lord Montaigne's charge that they were horse thieves. They were all hanged, but did not give away the secret of the Wizard world. I've been surprised to learn just how dark Hogwarts past has been.

"This slave revolt led to four of the original founders deciding to combine Gryffindor, Peverell, and Ravenclaw houses into the present Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. I'll read Hufflepuff justifications for these changes". There was general amazement as Hermione read the note we had discovered. But there were more strange things to come. "Only eight years later, the obsession of Slytherin and Lord Montaigne with the Peverell Hallows required that all things Peverell be hidden away. We have Mycroft White's account of that". Hermione read her copy of the manuscript that we had found. "That's all that I have on Peverell and Gryffindor Houses. Are there any questions?"

I was surprised to see Pansy ask the best question - "you said that Hogwarts was set up to teach the arts as well as magic. You even showed us paintings that the students made, but Hogwarts doesn't teach art. What happened?"

"The Lords Montaigne struck again. I'll read you two parchments that were left to us in 1611 and 1612, when Lord Montaigne decreed that the arts and writing were of no use to the future that he saw for Hogwarts students. I can read them to you, but perhaps it's best that I show you the secret Hogwarts art museum that the last art professor left, in the hopes that art would once again be welcome at a future Hogwarts. Some of us have seen it, but others of you have not." Hermione led the way back to Gryffindor and the museum. Percy seemed most surprised by the museum and the room of Peverell artefacts. "I was a Gryffindor prefect, and I had no idea any of this was here." Cissy, Narcissa, and the Slytherins were also suitable amazed and impressed."

"Thank you, Hermione," Professor McGonagall concluded, that has been a most interesting and enlightening lecture and show and tell. You certainly incorporated a lot of original historical research. I think you'll make a fine Hogwarts professor, some day. I'm sure we can look forward to as fine a presentation from Mr. Malfoy next week."


	54. Chapter 54

**Chapter Fifty-Four – Cissy's Problem**

Back at Gryffindor I noticed that Cissy was in a very withdrawn, pensive mood and asked if anything was wrong. "There's been so much excitement of late that the Montaigne prophecy that we saw in the Reception Hall was temporarily driven from my mind, but Hermione's lecture brought it back to me. My father was never willing to really discuss it with me, saying nothing more than 'most of these things either turn out to be rubbish or they work out well in the end in some perfectly common-sensical way'. I'm worried.

"The prophecy provided only four solutions to the theft of the 'double crown'. The last Montaigne can be killed in battle or murdered in a revolt. Or, the crowns can be voluntarily passed back to their rightful owner. Or, all the magical creatures can die. It looks like I'm going to be the last Montaigne, so those choices are my choices. The double crown is likely the Keeper title and the Lordship. Twice stolen could be from the Weasleys and then from my uncle. If I give the titles to Harry, that would make up for the second theft, except Harry doesn't think he can be the Lord Montaigne. The first theft was from the Weasleys and giving Harry the title doesn't solve that, either. So, other than dying in battle or allowing myself to die in a bloody revolt, I can only see a way to solve a quarter of the problem."

"One thing prophecies seem to be is vague and open to varied interpretations," I replied. "Harry bought the pertinent part of the estate from your father, this afternoon. Perhaps that counts as constructively transferring the Lordship title for the purposes of the Covenant? I've also read 'the line' from which the titles were cheated as being the Weasley's, but it could equally be the line of Hogwarts headmasters, who were supposed to be Keepers. It could equally be the Ministers of Magic, whom I believe were supposed to play a larger role, especially in directing Gringotts, before the various Lords Montaigne teamed with the Goblins to seize complete control."

"Yes, it makes me want to cry when I think what a bad lot we Montaignes are."

The others had been drawing closer, and Harry replied "you are not to blame for the actions of your brother or your ancestors. We think you are developing into a very good person."

"I try, but the family history calls into question how successful I will be. I've been thinking about how much I've wanted to be the Keeper, and this just reminds me that I share my family's overblown sense of ambition and privilege. I've really never wanted to be just an average married Witch."

"Neither have I," Hermione replied, "and you have to possess a level of ambition and a worthy goal that you strive to achieve, if you are going to make anything valuable of your life. I certainly hope it is possible to be both a good person and not want to be average or forsake ambition. I also believe I can be a good wife, without being just a good wife."

"We all have our ambitions," George chimed in, "and most of us have the humility that comes from realizing that we need the help of others to achieve those ambitions. I certainly don't think ambition is a bad thing. It only becomes a bad thing when you become willing to harm others to further your ambition."

"I think I realize that," Cissy replied, "but the prophecy still says that the good times can't flow again until the last Montaigne enters the Sacred Chamber for the last time. If I'm the Keeper, I'll have to enter the Chamber, and unless I die young or surrender the title, the good times are going to have a long wait."

"We should talk to Professors McGonagall and Trelawney after dinner," I suggested.

"More importantly, we should talk to Professor Firenze," Harry corrected me.

"The Goblin King should have some good information tomorrow," Ron added. "I don't think we should assume that the prophecy means that you have to die or give the title and Keeper roles to me. The last Montaigne will have entered the Sacred Cavern when you leave as a Montaigne and return as a married Witch with a new surname. Not that I'm advocating getting married just to avoid the drag of a prophecy."

"But you and Hermione and Ron and Ginny do plan to marry in line with the requirements of your prophecies."

"That's different. I was interested in Harry since I first saw him," I replied.

After dinner, the five of us and Neville gathered in Professors McGonagall's and Trelawney's apartment once again to discuss prophesy. Harry dove right in saying, "Cissy is worried that the third prophecy says she must either die, walk away from everything Montaigne, or see the Wizarding world destroyed. We don't think it's as clear cut as that, but we wanted to get your take on the matter."

Harry had jumped in even before the sherry was passed around, so there was a brief delay before Professor McGonagall replied.

"A prophecy is vague and subject to multiple interpretations, more than one of which can be correct, based upon the choices taken by the principals of the prophecy. We have to look no farther than the Voldemort/Harry Potter/Neville Longbottom prophesy to see how many directions a prophecy can take. Neville could have replaced Harry, neither Harry nor Voldemort needed to die, and in the end, both can be said to have 'died', although Harry is back with us in the flesh and, unfortunately, Voldemort is back with us as a ghost."

"One thing seems quite clear," Professor Trelawney commented. "The next 'golden age', whatever that will actually be, cannot begin until after the last visit by a Montaigne to the Sacred Cavern. This raises the question of exactly what a Montaigne is. If you married, would you still be a Montaigne? Given his parentage and arguable claim to the Lordship, is Harry a Montaigne? We know that the first two prophecies involving Ginny and Hermione, and the Goblin King confirms that they are the true subjects of those prophecies, are waiting for another initiating event to begin unreeling. The Goblin said that there are stone seats in the Sacred Chamber reserved for Ginny and Hermione, but it is not yet time for them to sit in those seats. The Goblin King clearly knows what sign he is waiting for. You may learn a lot more when you visit him tomorrow.

"It seems clear to me that if the end of Lord Montaigne's access to the Sacred Cavern was the initiating event, he will tell you so tomorrow. If the event is the final access to the Chamber by anyone named Montaigne, now seems a fine time for him to inform you that you are an unacceptable Keeper until you marry. If it is Montaigne by blood, he now is in a position to steer the post to someone other than either Harry or Cissy."

"That seems to address the final part of the prophecy," Cissy agreed. "We're going to try to speak to the Centaurs and Unicorns as well. If the removal of my father raises an opportunity to move to the golden age, then they have the golden opportunity to suggest to me and/or Harry that we step aside.

"Unfortunately, it doesn't address the core of the prophecy. That lists only three possible ways for the 'double-cheated, double crown' to pass from the Montaigne family. If it doesn't pass from my family, then it is the end of magical creatures."

"Yes," Professor McGonagall agreed, "that is almost as stark a prophecy as the Voldemort prophecy was, although it does permit resolution through voluntary surrender of the crown, rather than absolutely requiring violent death. Even the term 'double-cheated, double-crown' is confusing, though. Since there is no actual crown that we know of, it must be a metaphorical crown. I suppose we should confirm that there is nothing that meets the requirements of a physical double crown that could relate to the prophecy. That sounds like a good Hermione research assignment, and possibly something that can be found by viewing more of the Dumbledore memories."

As Cissy gave a surprised look, Harry explained "after you followed your father when he huffed out of here the other night, we began viewing a collection of stored memories that Dumbledore's notes to us said might be important to our efforts. Which reminds me, did you find useful guidance in the written message that Dumbledore left for you? We know that the message for your father, yes, we retrieved it after he threw it at Professor McGonagall, was an insult coupled with a demand that he resign his position as Keeper. I thought perhaps Dumbledore's message to you addressed the issue of whether or not he thought you should replace your father."

"I guess you deserve to see the message. I read it and put it in my pocket. My father was so angry that he didn't even think to ask about it until the next day. I told him I threw it away, like he did with his. Here it is. She placed the message on her lap and read it aloud.

_Cissy,_

_I would have liked to know you better, but I know your father and brother all too well. Were I not about to die, I would be spending more years as your Hogwarts headmaster and would be able to guide your path at Hogwarts as I did with Harry Potter. If Harry and his friends return to Hogwarts for their seventh year, as I trust they will, they can guide you in my absence. I also commend Professor McGonagall to your attention, as a likely mentor._

_Like Harry, you joined our school as a subject of an important prophecy. From my experience with Harry, I know that for a young person, being the subject of a prophecy can be especially frightening and can even become an obsession that clouds the judgment. For that reason, I hid Harry's prophecy from him and hindered his fulfillment of it. So, despite the risk, I think you should know yours. Ask Professor Firenze to relay it to you, with my blessings. Show him this note and he will tell you the truth._

_I believe that you can be the redemption of your family and perhaps the partial redemption of all your fellow Wizards. Be brave as you pursue your destiny. Based upon our lone year together, I think well of you. I think you are strong enough to do what needs to be done. If I correctly interpret the prophecy, your path is a difficulty one in which you must choose between your family and what you know to be right. The Centaurs believe that you are the key to our future._

_Albus Dumbledore_

"If Dumbledore felt that you were entering Hogwarts under similar circumstances as I did," Harry told Cissy, "I can tell you the things that brought me successfully through the experience. The first was a wise headmaster who watched out for me and trusted me, the second was a very loyal group of close friends who stuck with me even when I tried to push them away, and the third thing was a substitute mother, who took the place of the mother that I never had. Finally, I had a lot of luck, and never lost faith that I could succeed. I think Professor McGonagall can be your Dumbledore.

"We can be among your friends, but you need some closer to your own age. I can't help you on the substitute mother, other than to say you'll know her when you meet her. Although I guess for you the need may be for a substitute father. I know a young Gryffindor named Margaret, who is of your year, whom I think you may get along with quite well."

"I agree that Margaret is a good choice," Professor McGonagall told Cissy. "Before you go, I must stress to Cissy that few prophecies work out in exactly the way that most of us expect them to, and the majority don't come to fruition at all. It is hard to decide whether the principal of a prophecy is better off knowing or not knowing of its existence. Many Wizard lives have been ruined by taking a prophecy far too seriously. I know of extremely few Wizards who were damaged by ignorance of a prophecy." Professor Trelawney visibly winced at that comment, but Neville chipped in to support Professor McGonagall.

"I spent almost all of my life not knowing that I was a possible principal of the Voldemort prophecy. In the end, it might be said that I partially fulfilled that prophecy when I killed Nagini and made Voldemort mortal, so that Harry could finish him off."

"Yes, indeed!" Professor Trelawney beamed. "The prophecy could apply to either of two boys and it took both of those particular boys for Voldemort to be slain…. Plus Ron and Hermione, of course."


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter Fifty-Five – In the Lair of the Goblin King**

The next morning saw us standing at the main entrance to Gringotts, bright and early before the bank was due to open. There were eight of us, since Harry was heeding Shacklebolt's demand to bring Bill and Barb with us, and it made sense to include Neville in case the discussion turned to prophecies. The door was opened immediately and King Goblanze personally met us in the lobby, initially appearing quite concerned to find the aurors with us.

"I assume the two of you are sworn to strictest secrecy. You're going to be visiting an area that no Wizard but Dumbledore has looked upon for several hundred years. The Covenant doesn't strictly force us to grant access to the Keeper and we never viewed the Montaignes as suitable, humble pardons to Miss Cissy."

Bill replied "of course, that is one of the strictest of Ministry rules, and the penalties for violating that confidentiality are extreme."

King Goblanze nodded his assent and directed us to three waiting rail cars. "I thought we'd go right down to the Reception Hall, rather than starting in my conference room. I wanted you to know that magic is also powered from beneath the City. This particular circle is very deep; its construction is viewed as the greatest marvel of Goblin engineering."

We clamored into the three cars and went whizzing off to depths of the bank's domain that none of us had ever approached. The trip to the farthest and deepest of the rented storage vaults was only the first half of the trip. Beyond that, the track actually became smoother and faster. The rail car started to slow and then we saw ourselves entering a brightly lit reception hall. It was long enough to allow our three cars, plus the other two rail cars of Goblins who trailed us, to all stop in the hall, with about ten feet of space between the cars. There were two sets of tracks into the hall, making the hall, perhaps a hundred and fifty feet long, resemble the small terminal station of a branch subway line. The room extended about ten feet wide on one side of the tracks and twenty feet on the side that we exited, making the room not quite fifty feet wide. Unlike the Reception Hall beneath Hogwarts, this chamber had a rough, semi-finished floor and ceiling, with lights that were functional but not decorative. Both side walls appeared to be occupied by various forms of art.

"We are standing over a mile beneath the bottom of ocean", King Goblanze announced. "It took the Goblins and Druids seven centuries to construct this reception hall and the tunnels leading to it, to finish the magic circle in the Cavern, and to focus the lines of magnetic force into the Cavern. The cavern is a natural formation, which we built upon. The ancients sensed that it was here, and we tunneled until we reached it. There was an earlier, far shallower cavern at this site, dating back over two millennia. Without the focused magical energy from that initial cavern, I doubt this one could have been constructed. I accuse Wizards of having fallen into decadence, but I'm not sure that today's Goblins could complete a project of this magnitude. Of course we are far less numerous, but it is also true that few among us would readily accept the personal hardship that a project like this requires. The Goblin Kings had far more power over their subjects back in those days. We've only been elected for the past four centuries.

"This magical circle and its Cavern is a Goblin shrine, but we do not give it anything approaching the religious significance of the Sacred Cavern under Hogwarts. Even the original shallow Cavern at this site has greater religious significance than this one. For that reason, I'm going to let you all see this Cavern. First, I'd like to give you a tour of the art in this hall. This hall is known as the Hall of the Goblins and it commemorates the efforts of our forebears to complete this remarkable feat of engineering."

All of the art followed two themes. The first honored the workers who had built the hall, showing them at work and illustrating their techniques. The second depicted prophesying of various forms, frequently showing depictions of the principals of a particularly notable prophecy. There was a non-transforming version of the statue of baby Harry and his parents, cast in bronze. The King explained that this was the draft model of the final statue, which had been commissioned by the residents of Godric's Hollow and friends of Harry's parents. "This is our latest addition," the King proudly pointed to an alabaster statue of Neville, Voldemort, and Nagini. "It was finished only six weeks after the Battle of Hogwarts."

King Goblanze also pointed out a very large, multi-colored drawing, about six feet wide by four feet tall. At first glance, it constituted a third theme. "This is my masterpiece. Naturally, you can't read the name, since it is written in what you call Goblinspeak. The plate translates to 'The Obstruction in the Flow of Time'. I show it to you, not merely out of prideful boasting, but because it depicts the developing cosmic obstruction that could lead to the calamity the prophecies foretell. I want you to take a good look at the drawing, which depicts the night sky as it existed over two years ago. Firenze will show you the current path of time, as it spreads across the sky, and you will be able to observe for yourself that, despite the demise of Voldemort, the path of time has not begun to reopen." The drawing was an extremely detailed depiction of a portion of the night sky, which must have been observed on a very dark night just before the new moon.

"I don't think I've ever seen as much detail in the night sky," Neville told the King. "Surely this wasn't observed from Britain."

"Actually, it was," the King replied. "I observed the heavens for three days surrounding the new moon for three consecutive months, with the aid of a small telescope to see the fine detail. I traveled to the island of Iona, off the coast of Scotland, not all that far from Hogwarts. The Unicorns and Centaurs travel there to conduct their more detailed astronomical observations when they are reading the celestial prophecies."

"What are these symbols?" Hermione asked.

"They indicate the changes that occurred over the course of observations that I made four years and two years prior to the time that I completed this drawing. I will soon be traveling to Iona to do another updating of the drawing. You're welcome to come with me. It's quite an experience. Iona has been a sacred island to many religions over the millennia. Its magical force lines are as strong as anywhere in Britain, but with all of the surrounding ocean and so little land, it was not suitable for more than very modest magical engineering. There was no chance of creating as strong a concentration of magical force as was achieved here and at Hogwarts, or at the Eire site. Anyway, enough gabbing, I'll leave you alone for a few minutes to study the drawing, and then I'll take you into the Cavern."

"I think what he's talking about," Neville guessed, "is the manner in which this denser line of stars seems to twist and constrict in this area here. On the drawing, he shows this central line of mainly fairly faint stars narrowing from about an inch wide to not much more than a quarter inch, before it broadens out again."

"I see what you mean," Hermione replied. We were interrupted by King Goblanze.

"I almost forgot to show you the depiction of this scene prepared a little over a millennia ago by King Goblinac, probably our greatest Goblin artist. Smooth sailing for the celestial stream of time, back in those days." We walked to the end of the tracks and then along the far wall until we had reached the wall opposite the one where we had started.

"The Great Goblinac made the observations for this drawing with only the benefit of a primitive crystal lens, which he had to hold at arm's length to make his observations. At its sweet point, it gave a magnification of only about ten times. We still have the crystal displayed in the little shrine inside the Cavern. But I'll stop talking and let you study the drawing. This was observed from the outskirts of Edinburgh, by the way."

This drawing, which was slightly bigger than Goblanze's, showed the same band of stars, seemingly marching along in a stream that barely narrowed at all in the region of the current pinch point. "Even I can see a clear difference," Ron reported, "and I was not exactly a star in astronomy class." We moved on to a quick viewing of art commemorating the tunnel system and those who built it.

I would have liked to have been able to spend more time studying the representations of the construction. There were life-sized statues of workers, drawings and paintings showing the primitive rail carts used to haul the broken rock to the surface, the Goblin miners working with hand tools at the rock face, and even what appeared to be the magical removal of rock. What really fascinated me, however, was a detailed three dimensional model, cast in some clear material, which showed the route of all the tunnels down to this Reception Hall and the cavern beyond. The path down from the bank was largely a descending spiral, but one that periodically doubled back upon itself or had sudden increases or decreases in diameter and steepness. The path became much steeper after the last of the storage vaults was passed. We reluctantly tore ourselves away from this model to rejoin King Goblanze, who was standing at the center of the rear wall, at the point that turned out to be the entrance to the cavern.

"More deception than brute force barriers guards this Cavern," the King instructed. "There is actually an open arch here, which is obstructed by intense magical forces. If you run your ring along the wall, very close to the surface, the 'rock' seems to simply melt away. It'll go faster if you join me in the effort."

Harry and Cissy stood next to the King, running their rings up and down along the surface of the wall. We soon observed a broad indentation in the 'rock' and then discrete holes began to appear. A few minutes later, the archway was clear enough for us to pass through it.

"This is sort of like the barrier that Voldemort constructed at the sea cave, where he hid the necklace," commented Harry. "That barrier required a blood offering to permit passage."

"I certainly hope you don't think we Goblins would be as vulgar or blood-thirsty as Voldemort," the King challenged Harry. "Of course not. In any case, I present for your inspection the Cavern of the Goblins".

As I followed Harry and Cissy through the archway, I immediately noted differences between this Cavern and the Sacred Cavern beneath Hogwarts. There was no tunnel entrance; we stepped through the arch directly into the cavern. This cavern was only half the length and width of the Sacred Cavern and it had a more 'raw' appearance, with more of the stone roughly hewn and unpolished. The ceiling was lower and the lighting more basic functional. The crystal circle, itself, was almost as large, taking up half the Cavern, and being at the far end from the archway. Looking closer, the 'circle' was more an oval than a circle, possibly to cram a bigger circle into this small space. Between us and the circle were only three split rows of semicircular, flat stone benches that looked like they could accommodate about two dozen beings at a time, and would provide only the sparsest comfort.

King Goblanze led us forward to the circle. The outermost ring, about thirty feet by forty feet in diameter, and coming to within a couple feet of the walls on three sides, was made of polished red stone columns. As we got closer, I could tell that the columns were made of granite. I counted two dozen of them. Each was about a foot and a half in diameter, and stretched from floor to ceiling, with no apparent break at either end. A meshwork of fine silver wires entwined and connected the columns at their tops. The circle, in which the columns appeared to be set, was a perfectly flat and smooth polished surface of what appeared to be molten silver, which had been poured in place around the columns. The silver circle was a little over two feet across.

King Goblanze turned to us and explained, "the columns extend five feet beneath the cavern and are embedded half a foot into the ceiling. Each column is made from an unbroken length of granite, sixteen feet long. The silver bed for the columns is two inches thick all the way around, but also fills the holes in which the columns are firmly anchored to the bedrock. This particular granite was chosen because it has a high concentration of crystallites within it. The next circle consists of a dozen six foot tall calcite crystals. Inside that is a circle of eight four foot long quartz crystals, surrounding a piece of magnetite weighing five tons. A polished thousand carat crystal of green spodumene is set in the top of the magnetite and surrounded by six elongated triangular prism tourmaline crystals. All of the circles are set in a ring of silver, and the crystals are connected by a silver lattice. A smoothly polished foot-long crystal of quartz, an inch in diameter, is inserted into the roof of the Cavern, directly above the spodumene crystal and sealed with silver. This is one of the twin magical engines that powers southern England. The other half of the pair lies in the original, shallower cavern that is roughly three quarters of a mile almost directly above us. If you walk around to the corners behind the circle, there are small exhibits. The one on your right honors King Goblinac and includes his observation crystal and a bronze bust. "

We walked around the circle to this display. The life-sized bust was very finely detailed and showed an extremely fierce-looking young Goblin. The crystal was held in a small depression on a wooden shelf. It was surrounded on either side by what I can best describe as Goblin-looking devices of brass, crystal, and silver wires. The article on the left was eight inches tall and six inches across, looking like a cylindrical version of the Flamel device that we had used to find the Resurrection Stone. The article on the right looked like a copy of the Flamel device, but enlarged a little over half in each dimension. "The lens and these devices were used to tune the circle in the day of Goblinac," King Goblanze informed us. If you move to the other corner, you will see the devices that we use today."

We walked around to the indicated display. In the center was a 'Flamel device' of even larger dimension and with outsized crystals of extremely fine polish and perfect curvature. On the right of this device was a two foot diameter ring of silver, which appeared to serve only to support a web of silver threads, as fine and intricately interlaced as the most elaborate spider's web. Next to this was an eight-inch diameter convex quartz crystal mounted in copper. As I pointed at it the King explained "that is a Muggle-manufactured quartz crystal as are the two cylindrical crystals of ultrapure metallic silicon next to it." I looked at the silicon crystals, which were each four inches in diameter by about a foot long. They were sheathed in a course silver lattice and had clear, two-inch diameter crystals inset into their top surfaces. On the other side of the Flamel device were various devices that did not have the look that I associated with Goblin manufacture. "Those were manufactured to our specification in a Muggle laboratory, with the final improvements made by ourselves.

"On another visit, I'll show you how to tune the circle. I've only done it twice myself, not counting the occasional very slight tweak. The frequent tuning is required by the Muggle construction of large buildings in London, and by the changes in magic induced by the constriction of the celestial flow of time. The Hogwarts circle has been tuned only once in my lifetime. This circle was tuned once by my predecessor, once by Dumbledore, and twice by me. If this circle had not been repeatedly tuned during the past century, the magical strength would have fallen by half. Leave a circle like this untuned for a millennium and the magical strength would be a tenth of its current strength, which is to say not much more than four times the natural level before the very first magical beings made their very first attempts to harness the magical energy.

"That's really all I wanted to show you on this level. Mark your spot when we get back to the reception hall. You should be able to apparate there from Diagon Alley. Now, we're going to travel to the shallow cavern, so let's move back to the rail cars."

The rail cars took us up, past the lowermost vaults. We stopped beside what looked like the fifteenth vault from the bottom. There really was nothing to distinguish it from all the other vaults that we had observed, except that it opened by the touch of the King's ring. The vault door covered a windy, narrow, twenty foot tunnel, with a low five foot ceiling, which disgorged us into a cavern smaller than the one we had just left. It was a lower cavern, with a ceiling height that varied between six and eight feet. It was twenty feet in width at the widest point, but more typically ten to fifteen feet wide, along its seventy foot length. It had a very natural look to it, the stone being unfinished except at the widest point, where the ring stood. The ring was as wide as the cavern at its widest point, save for a two-foot wide track along one wall, just enough to let the visitor slip past the ring. The ring was a single ring of a dozen calcite crystals, averaging about six feet long. Inside the ring was a very large, flat-topped monolith.

"The largest of the crystals is a little over nine feet high, with its base buried in the floor of the Cavern", King Goblanze informed us. The monolith altar in the center weighs close to eight hundred tons and is composed of lodestone. Much of it is below the surface. The ancient druids found it in this Cavern, in exactly that spot. The Goblins used the cave for worship at that time, and it is unclear whether they also found the monolith in its present position or somehow moved it here. The memory of that time has been lost. The ring was built around the monolith about twenty-nine hundred years ago, or at least that's when the job was finished. This Cavern, which is called The Ancient Cavern of the Forebears, or at least that is my simple translation from Goblinspeak, was first worked by my ancestors over four thousand years ago. From later records it appears that the Cavern was accessed from the surface by natural caves and crevices. The discovery of this Cavern represents the start of the classical age of Goblin culture. We are about fifteen hundred feet below London.

"The key point to remember is that this circle resonates with the larger circle, which we just visited. This initially sets up interference patterns in the magical lines of force, with the lines having varying strength. A lot of magical engineering went into smoothing that into a reasonably consistent, stable field of magical force. The remaining null areas are cleverly designed to fall beneath the Thames and in other points where the magic is unlikely to be needed. If you explore London, you will find spots where it is virtually impossible to perform magic. Such dead zones cover about 5% of the area of the city and its immediate suburbs and much of the airspace over the Thames. That is why if you fly the Thames, you must fly near the center. Hit a null spot near the banks of the river and you'll start to fall. I'm rambling, but this was background to my explanation that the two circles must be tuned at the same time and the surrounding buffers and the collimators, which are in these tunnels and some of the vaults, may also need to be adjusted.

"The design of Gringotts is much less haphazard than it appears. The tunnels and vaults certainly took advantage of natural cracks, crevices, fumaroles, and small caverns in the rock, but our tunneling and the areas where the tunnels are metal lined and especially where the larger vaults are located, were carefully selected to control the magical force lines. Well, enough of that, I can tell when Wizard eyes have glazed over. Shall I show you the new dragon, before we go up to my office? Charlie says his name is Norbert."

The trains stopped halfway back to the lobby and I could see a flash of dragon fire a hundred feet ahead. "I'll go first," King Goblanze warned us. "Charlie introduced me to the dragon properly. I spent several hours with it and at least Norbert hasn't killed me yet, the worst he's done is singe my trouser leg. The trick is, you have to sing to him as you approach."

As the King sang his way toward the dragon and the rest of us hummed in accompaniment, Harry remarked "isn't that the same tune that Hagrid sang to Fluffy? He must have sung it to Norbert as well." We got close enough to make a passing acquaintance with Gringotts' newest guard. King Goblanze actually petted the dragon. We only stayed a few minutes and then walked back to the train carts.

"They do enjoy a bit of attention. Charlie's biggest fear in bringing the dragon down here was that it would get lonely. I told him that wasn't a bad thing – it would make it meaner. Charlie convinced me this was both cruel and counterproductive. He thinks the dragon let you ride him to freedom because he wanted any companionship and saw his chance to escape from down here. I agreed to purchase another dragon from Charlie, so that we can let them each spend every other month topside. He arranged with Hagrid that they can spend their surface time at Hogwarts. Any of you want to venture a guess as to what that second dragon is going to cost me?"

"A thousand gold galleons?" Hermione ventured.

"Maybe I'm not as good a negotiator as I think I am. I agreed to give Charlie twelve hundred galleons."

Back in the familiar surroundings of the Goblin King's office, Harry told King Goblanze that we were trying to interpret the prophecy that we had discovered engraved on the table in the Reception Hall of the Sacred Chamber. "It really has Cissy frightened, thinking that she needs to die to save the world of magic."

"I don't believe it was put there to frighten young Cissy. It was meant for her father. I know, I know it talks about the last time a Montaigne enters the Sacred Chamber and the need to end the usurpations of the Montaigne line. This prophecy needs to be read in conjunction with the prior two, which, I believe, identify Ginny as the Mother of the Future. Thus, the third prophecy is meant to be fulfilled during her lifetime, which also means within your lifetime, Cissy."

"That's what I thought, also. But what must I do? I think my father and Bruce shall not enter the Sacred Cavern again. That leaves me. I think, as a start, that I should not enter the Sacred Cavern again."

"I think it safest that you not enter, until after you marry."

"If you knew and understood the prophecy, why did you allow me to enter the Cavern?"

"Technically, I didn't, your father did. I could have prevented it, but since your father was entering anyway, there seemed no point. Now that your father is no longer Keeper, the situation has changed. I'm glad that you got to enter the Sacred Chamber and appreciate its immense power and beauty at least one time. It is your birthright and an experience not to be missed. Still, I think you would be doing the wise thing on behalf of both yourself and all magical creatures, if you did not enter again".

"I'll do that. Harry will be the Keeper, at least until I marry, although I doubt that I ever will. But the prophecy also says that I must either die or surrender the 'double crown'. What is the double crown?"

"I don't know for certain. I don't even know if it is an actual crown or something that gives the same authority as a crown. The only possible crown that I know of that might be viewed as a double crown, although I personally don't see it as being double, is the old Weasley crown from Eire."

"So Ron is the one to whom the crown must be returned?" Hermione asked. "Is that why he was named an assistant Keeper?"

"No and No," the King replied. "I don't know which branch of the extended Weasley family tree would be the rightful heir, but assuming it is Ron's, the crown would pass to Arthur and then to Bill. Ron was chosen to be an assistant Keeper, or at least I approved of him – I hate to even guess at the former Lord Montaigne's motivations - because he plays a key role in the first two prophecies, and because the four of you, five with Neville, work so well together."

"Sorry, I knew that," Hermione apologized.

"What I would strongly suggest", the King continued, "Is that you move your investigations to Eire and see what is to be learned at the former Weasley estate."

"How can we possibly find the old family estate?" Ron asked despondently.

"If you'd been paying attention to the King, you'd know that even after a millennium, the signs of magical engineering will still be present in the form of increased strength in the lines of magical force. The Weasleys have only been off the estate a little over six hundred years. And then, we could talk to the religious Witches that Professor McGonagall wants us to visit and see if they can arrange a meeting with some religious Witches in Eire. Then, there's always the Ministry library."

"Or there's always the Goblin King," King Goblanze replied. "Actually, the Goblins were able to keep the circle associated with the Weasley estate running for some time after control over the estate was lost. I'd guess that the circle was last tuned up perhaps four hundred years ago, meaning the magical force lines in that area probably haven't weakened to less than half a half. Not so good for the Wizards of Eire, but enough for you to find circle. There isn't as much Muggle construction on Eire and there aren't three competing circles, so not as much tuning is needed.

"Remember that the Weasleys and Goblins would have started in the part of Eire with the greatest magical strength. I think our instruments should be able to narrow down your search. I'd love to join you on the hunt. I haven't done anything that exciting in years. I also want to see if I have any subjects left hiding away in Eire. Goblin history says the last Goblin in Eire fled the isle four hundred years back, but it's possible a few are left. We Goblins can recognize the call of our fellows up to several miles away, especially at night."

I could tell that Ron was becoming very excited. "It's very likely that the setup will be similar to the Hogwarts Sacred Cavern. If we find the circle, it will likely have stairs or tunnels leading to the ruins of the old Castle Weasley. We have the key that Dumbledore left us. He must think we can find the castle. The other place we can do is research the memories that Dumbledore left to us.

"You have me convinced that we can actually do this," Ron's optimism increased. "It's fine if I'm not the heir. I just don't want Percy to be King."

"I don't think anyone wants Percy to be King," I reassured Ron. "If there's some strange Eire Wizard rule that the third son inherits, we'll just pretend we never found the castle or the crown."

"I see that my staff is ready to serve us lunch in the conference room," King Goblanze interrupted our discussion. "I'd like to change gears over lunch and discuss the Gringotts charter with Harry. Before you say it, I know you don't have Percy here and I know that the Minister and Shacklebolt won't allow you to commit to anything, and I know you didn't come here read up on this topic, but, still, you are the driving force behind this proposed separate loan agency for young Wizards. I need to understand that better and decide how it will affect the bank."

It was good that the King was going to help us find our ancestral castle, but really the best thing about visits to the bank was the food. No knock on Dad, but I wouldn't mind having Shacklebolt rather than Dad provide the meal during our Ministry trips, although I know Harry is concerned about any suggestion that he or the Minister might be overly lavish with personal expenses. This lunch was fully up to Gringotts' standards. We began with a baby arugula salad with raspberry vinaigrette, which I unfortunate dripped on my formal robes. At least they had already gotten quite dirty going through the caverns. We were each served a whole steamed lobster, with drawn butter, lobster being as far up the food chain as a Goblin was willing to go. The lobster was complemented by a winter squash and turnip puree, laced with lots of cinnamon and allspice. For dessert, a crème brulee, with lots of cinnamon and a hint of rum. Oh, yes, the King also quizzed Harry on the young Wizard's lending agency.

"My concern, Harry," King Goblanze began, "is that the new young Wizards' loan agency will compete with the bank when it comes to making loans, thus making a risky new line of business even iffier. With a smaller pool of loan applicants, we'll be able to make fewer loans and they'll likely be of lesser quality, on average."

"I doubt it will be a serious conflict," Harry replied. "Young Wizards with no track record in business or even much of an employment record seem like just the sort of applicants that Gringotts would never even consider making a loan to. The greatest fear at the Ministry, quite frankly, is that the bank has yet to make a loan, seems to lack any interest in making loans, and is highly unlikely to produce enough lending to spur the necessary growth in the Wizard economy. That is why our proposed charter extension includes benchmarks for loan activity. It is also why the new agency is needed to ensure that at least some loan money flows where it is most needed, to the young Wizards most likely to have the ambition, energy, and fresh ideas needed for a new business.

"We know that Gringotts fairly deliberately killed the Black and Parkinson shipping businesses and we don't want that stifling of economic activity to continue. The problem has existed for too long for Gringotts to just say that we should trust the bank. You'll still have exclusive access to the older Wizard borrowers, who will be most attractive to the bank. All of the Voldemort uncertainty has changed the new generation of Wizards. I don't think your bankers understand us."

"How can I be sure that your new loan agency won't steal the established Wizard businesses as customers and leave Gringotts having to meet its loan benchmarks with very low quality loans?"

"Well, first of all, except for George and Lee, all the owners of existing Wizard businesses are too old to qualify for loans from the new agency. Second, the agency will charge a slightly higher interest rate than the 3% that the bank will charge, so any customer with an offer from both the agency and Gringotts will naturally choose to borrow from Gringotts."

"That makes a certain amount of sense. What age limit did you plan to set for Wizards taking out loans from the agency, and what interest rate did you plan to charge?"

"That's not decided yet. I've suggested an upper age limit of 30 and an interest rate of 4%, but I don't know if the Minister and the Wizengamot will accept my suggestion".

"That doesn't sound so bad, but there's another problem. I've heard a rumor that the agency will borrow money from depositors and investors at a rate of 2%, which is twice what Gringotts pays. That will rob depositors from Gringotts."

"Again, I can't promise what the final form of the bill will take. All I can say is what I personally recommended to the Minister. My proposal is that the agency would not accept deposits. All of its funds would come from purchase of shares in the agency. I hope that the Ministry will take a large number of shares and the rest will be sold to individual Wizards. The dividend yield has to be higher than the interest that Gringotts pays, because the agency's investors are at risk of losing some or all of their invested principal if the loans are not repaid. The Gringotts' depositors are guaranteed against loss of principal. It is two completely different forms of investment.

"I don't see why you're complaining, anyway. Having depositors who allow their money to be loaned out will be a totally new business for you, so it will all be added profit. All you do today is rent vaults for the storage of wealth. As you yourself have said, this is all new for both the bank and the Wizard community. Since most Wizards are not at all familiar with the concept of putting their savings at risk of being wiped out, I think deposits with Gringotts will be their first baby steps in risk taking. Few Wizards will want to invest in the agency."

"If few Wizards will invest, where will the agency get the money it needs?"

"My suggestion will be to open up the shares for purchase by the broad Wizarding community. If there are insufficient purchases, Hermione, her mother, and I are willing to take up the slack."

"Nicely avoiding charges of conflict, by the staggered sale."

"Of course."

"Well, it was good to see all of you again and please let me know when you're ready to set off for Eire. You've at least given me more information for my next meeting with your Minister. One other thing you mentioned when we first met, Harry. You said that you leaned toward an above ground sanctuary for Goblins. Have you given any further thought to that idea?"

"Some, but I haven't proposed anything specific to the Minister as yet. What sort of sanctuary were you thinking of?"

"It doesn't have to be overly large or overly grand. We could construct the buildings. Some mountains, some trees, a little open space for growing vegetables, and a chance to burrow underground from the sanctuary. A few hundred acres would provide a space for me to deal with those Goblins who are not well suited to a perpetual underground life."

"Alright, those parameters help. I'll give it some more thought."

"Thank you, Harry; you're being so kind that I almost feel guilty having taken your 4000 galleons for the sword. At least I accepted your first offer, instead of driving up the price. I sensed, correctly I think, that you just tossed out your final position. You should never begin a negotiation, by offering your bottom line price. You should have felt something was off, when I just accepted. In truth, the going price was more in the range of 1500 to 2000 galleons. I paid the family of the Goblin who created the sword 2000 galleons. They were thrilled to get a price on the very high end of what they thought reasonable. I won't give you your 2000 galleons back. Just consider that you've just received further education for your money. I do feel a little badly, since you saved my job for free. That can be another free lesson to you. I would have happily paid you quite a few galleons for that service."

"That could have been construed as a bribe."

"Yes, indeed it could, but it would have been a well-spent bribe. Goodbye Harry."

"Before we leave," I rashly inserted myself into the discussion, "you had promised to tell us some history from the Goblin perspective. We noticed in the Reception Hall under Hogwarts that a brave Goblin warrior Ashkaz died defending the Sacred Cavern against Voldemort. We were never told that Voldemort even knew of the Sacred Cavern."

"There was little that Voldemort was unaware of. I think Dumbledore told Harry only what was needed for Harry's part in the battle. A traitorous Goblin apparated two Death Eaters into the Sacred Cavern. As we reconstructed the plot – the Death Eaters had little choice but to tell us all that they knew before they died – the plan was to destroy the Circle if the battle was not progressing well. The Hogwarts defenders would have been completely surprised by the failure of magic and unprepared to fight by nonmagical means. Voldemort thought this unlikely, but told the invaders to destroy the circle, if he failed to contact them within twelve hours. Ashkaz and three other defenders foiled the plot and killed our traitor. Ashkaz died in that battle. My own deputy Kelu Goblansk was one of the defenders who survived."

"We also saw a memorial to Insulum the Giant, who died defending the Durmstrang Cavern," I prompted the King.

"Yes, there were also Goblins involved in that fight. Bruce had nothing to do with that particular battle. It was Voldemort's forces who invaded. The plan was to sabotage magic on the Continent, so that the French and German Wizards would be too busy to help you against Voldemort. I don't think any Wizards learned of this battle until you saw the painting. Dumbledore wasn't alive to see it and Montaigne avoided such things, especially after he saw the prophecy, which displeased him. Only two Death Eaters invaded the Reception Hall. They really had no chance, but they managed to kill Insulum as he crushed the two of them. The Goblins disabled the entrance to the Cavern as soon as the Death Eaters arrived. That is your history lesson for today. It was nice to see you all again."

Clearly, we were dismissed. This time with a finality of tone, which brooked no further questioning.

**Original text**

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	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter Fifty-Six – Ancient Witches and the Land of Eire**

We gave our updates at the Ministry. Dad responded, "I think you told him too much, but at least you didn't commit to anything." It was then back to Hogwarts to update Professor McGonagall and request our introduction to one of the other religious Witches, with whom she was on good terms.

Being happy to have another of her suggestions finally be acted upon, Professor McGonagall insisted upon immediately apparating us to her friend on the Isle of Skye. The five of us, plus Cissy, George, Luna, and Bill and Barb, the aurors, linked arms with Professor McGonagall as we stood at the pocket inside the gate. After a slight churning on a full stomach, though far less of a reaction than I would have felt at the start of the summer, we found ourselves standing halfway up a small barren mountain of grey stone, gravel, and lichen, looking down upon the green countryside, water, and small village on Skye, with the small harbor in the distance. "We walk up a little higher to get to Mafalda's cave," Professor McGonagall told us as she led the way "I took us as close to the cave as I could remember a broad enough flat area to accommodate all of us."

A few minutes climb brought us to Mafalda's cave, which was little more than a good sized, rock covered depression in the hillside. Her quarters were perhaps seven feet deep by eight feet wide, with a protected area about four feet deep in front of the depression, which lacked only the rocky overhang. Mafalda was a very old Witch, decades older than Professor McGonagall.

"Greetings children," she croaked. "I've been expecting you for weeks and was afraid you wouldn't arrive. It is a treat to have a visit from the children of the prophecies. I recognize you from my waking dreams. The one with the scar is Harry Potter, and this must be Neville Longbottom, Ronald Weasely, Ginevra Weasley, and Hermione Granger. And a big welcome and a hug for my old friend Minerva. The other three I don't recognize." We introduced Cissy, Bill, and Barb. When Cissy was introduced, Mafalda replied, "ah yes, I should have spotted you. The young daughter of the usurper clan. I have dreamt that things turn out well for you, but I've never seen your face in my dreams. That is sometimes taken as a sign of duplicity, but I don't believe that is necessarily so in your case. How can I help my distinguished guests?"

"I don't want to be rude," Harry hesitated, "but I'm very curious. Your dwelling is beyond Spartan and yet still visible to anyone who stumbles upon it. With all of your magical abilities, I would have expected you to have a dwelling which is both more comfortable and more completely magically concealed. Is your choice a requirement of your religious vocation?"

"No, it is personal preference. It reminds me to focus on that which is truly important. I removed the magical enchantments for your convenience. Normally outsiders cannot spy my little nest and I have enough cloths to stay warm. This is merely where I sleep in the good weather. I have a warmer, more sheltered winter dwelling. In any case, the view is excellent and I apparate wherever I need or wish to go. I have few possessions and little need for enclosed space. I prefer to be at one with nature. This hole does keep my telescope dry."

Some seemed to view Harry's comment as rude and a diversion from the purpose of our trip. Hermione seized the first break in the discussion to change its course, telling Mafalda that we needed help both in interpreting the three prophecies and in finding the Weasley estate in Ireland.

"On the second question, I don't know the exact location of the estate or the castle, but I know that it is located near the west coast of Ireland in an area called the Burren. From legend and seeing it in my dreaming mind's eye, the above-ground castle was never all that large or impressive, just a central entry hall, a satellite armory, a guard room, a small eating space, and a small, low astronomy tower. The kitchen and privies were out back and the kitchen garden and everything else above ground was surrounded by a low stone wall. There was quite a bit more of the place underground, including food storage, a temple, several classrooms, a dozen bedrooms, a dining hall with a throne, a strong room for valuables, a very large fine spring, and a reception area to the Sacred Cavern and Crystal Circle."

Turning to our questions about the prophecies, Mafalda first asked us how we learned about them and then what each of us thought they meant. We told her that Dumbledore knew of at least the first two prophecies and likely the Montaigne prophecy, before he died over a year ago. She gave us her guidance on the meaning of the prophecies. "Any or all of you could be correct. A good prophecy has more than one correct meaning and is guided to some extent by your actions. I am struck by the fact that the first two prophecies are set to be fulfilled several years to a generation in the future. The third prophecy ties to the first two with the reference to the Mother of the Future and the new Golden Age. Thus, the events of the third prophecy could be quite a few years into the future. The removal of Lord Montaigne and Bruce suggests that events of the third prophecy may be very near. If so, then the Mother of the Future could also start to play a role quite soon.

"I can't decide whether the events in question start soon or well into the future, because I've seen conflicting visions. The jailing of the Montaignes suggests the events are near at hand, but I have had a vision of both Montaignes once again at the gate to the Sacred Cavern of the Goblins. I see old Montaigne battling you far into the future. I see Bruce out of your custody, but far, far away. It is very confusing. In my other vision, I see you all in great danger before the new Spring. My foretelling is not as crisp as it once was.

"With all of this temporal uncertainty, I caution defensive action. The five of you mentioned in the first two prophecies need to keep yourselves safe. Cissy needs to stay away from the Sacred Cavern. That is the best you can do for now. If it helps, I can tell you that I have seen visions showing the five of you all alive a year from now and Cissy completing her third year at Hogwarts. I sometimes awake in a panic that the male Montaignes are trying to sneak into the Circle in the Sacred Cavern and cause only themselves to be magical. You must prevent either of them from entering the Sacred Cavern or from killing any of the six of you. My visions say that they will try to do both of these things. There is nothing else that I can tell you."

"There's another reason we wanted to meet you," Harry began. "We know almost nothing about the Wizard religions. I grew up in a non-Wizard Church of England family, and at Hogwarts we only celebrate Halloween and Christmas. We haven't studied anything about either the Light Guardian or the older nature-centered religions. Professor McGonagall says that you're a priestess of the Light Guardian religion. Can you tell us something about the Light Guardian and your religious beliefs? Also, how many Wizards believe in the Light Guardian or the ancient natured-centered Gods?"

"Belief in the religion of the Light Guardian came after belief in what you call the nature-centered Gods. I must start by saying that I don't accept the distinction that you make. The Light Guardian is centered in nature and my beliefs are also centered in nature. Both the ancient beliefs and belief in the Light Guardian encompass both what is present in the heavens as well as on and in the Earth. The biggest difference is that the old religions saw separate, and sometimes competing, deities behind every manifested force of nature. So there is a God or Goddess of the Sun, the Moon, major stars, water, wind, thunder, the seasonal burgeoning and dwindling of life, of disease and good health, of fertility, mountains, caverns, ghosts, just about any major natural manifestation.

"For the early Britons, there were nearly as many Gods as Britons and the Gods had their own separate world, but they could be implored to come and assist us in our world, or they could choose to harm us if we acted in ways that displeased them. This provided an explanation for otherwise unexplainable good things or bad things that happened to these peoples. There was a lot of fear and unpredictability, because these ancients had little understanding of the world. With so many competing Gods, to please one was to anger another, so the best you could achieve was a temporary reprieve in a good place, hoping the Gods would lose notice of you while you inhabited that happy place.

"The religion of the Light Guardian begins with the first Wizards who could perceive the lines of magical force and who learned to manipulate and concentrate this force, to a marginal extent. This provided a unifying idea of what magic was and allowed magical force to be centered in special areas, like the stone henges. At some point after we had reached this basic understanding, the Light Guardian, who lives in the cosmos, and some believe is simply a visual manifestation created by the magical force that pervades the whole universe, appeared at Stonehenge and shared many secrets with our ancient ancestors.

"These secrets included knowledge of the other magical creatures, especially the Unicorns, Centaurs, Elves, and Goblins, who either mediated the magical force here in Britain, or more rightly on the Earth, or who had different levels of understanding of magic than our ancestors did. For their own protection, these creatures had previously been unknown to each other, being more legend, based upon fleeting encounters, than fact. The Light Guardian commanded that they should work together, protecting each other and enhancing the magic, for the good of all of them. They were commanded to not kill each other or the nonmagical humans, whom you call Muggles. The Light Guardian explained that all of the magical creatures were required for the magic to flourish and that each species had its own unique role. This is what believers in the Light Guardian call the Ancient or Prime Covenant. It was never signed, or even written down, the way what you call the Original Covenant was, or the later Covenants. Still, that ancient oral Covenant is the basis for all which followed. The Light Guardian is said to have appeared once before that, at a time of great troubles, but that is from Goblin, rather than Wizard legend.

"The Ancient Covenant was basically an interspecies peace treaty, imposed by the only being in the Universe powerful enough to do so, and a roadmap for keeping the magical forces healthy. The Light Guardian also provided the basics of what is now magical engineering, showing how crystal circles deep in the Earth had more power than the old stone circles or areas of natural dense rock. He showed them how to move and anchor the lines of force. The Unicorns and Centaurs were taught how to decode the warning messages that he wrote in the changing night sky. I say 'he' as a convenience of speech. There is only one Light Guardian and as far as we know 'he' is immortal. Sex differences and the need for he and she derive from the need for species to reproduce in order to continue and increase their numbers. The Light Guardian has no such need. As the universe expands, 'he' expands and grows with it. There will be one and only one Light Guardian, until our universe itself perishes."

"As an avid watcher of Doctor Who, when I lived with my parents, I have to ask if there is a Dark Guardian," Hermione asked the old Witch. "You know, an evil God, who competes with the good Light Guardian and causes bad things to happen."

"We don't believe so," Mafalda responded. "The Light Guardian is the animating force of the universe and draws energy, and perhaps increased wisdom, from all of the sentient beings in this universe. The opposite is chaos or random disorder, which is purely undirected, but can certainly cause bad things to happen. I suppose it's possible that other universes have a Dark Destroyer as their animating force, but an animating force that was in opposition to sentient life would soon lose energy and perish or, if it was successful in its malevolence, then the sentient life itself would soon vanish.

"So, it may be random luck that this particular universe has a benign Guardian, but it seems natural and necessary that since all of these sentient beings are alive on Earth, that Earth must be in a universe in which the animating Guardian is benign.

"The other argument for that is that the Light Guardian is unimaginably old. There are good and bad Wizards, but the bad seems to come from mental defect or under-development. The Light Guardian has had ample time to develop and smooth off his own emotional rough edges. The Light Guardian has a whole universe to supervise and try to keep in order. Many stars have Earths with sentient life, so the Light Guardian cannot spend much time in our vicinity.

"That is where the Covenant comes in. Warnings from the Light Guardian are written in the night sky from a great distance, and some magical creatures must be trained to read these warnings and act upon them. Things were much less formal back then. What you have learned as the duties of the Keeper and his assistants, were in those days simply the shared duty of all Wizards who believed in the Guardian, on behalf of our species. Many Witches had prophetic trance dreams. Likewise, the duties of the Centaurs and Goblins were shared by all among their species. There were hundreds of Centaurs who read the portents in the night sky and even dreamed prophetic dreams. Goblins did not need a King's permission to enter a Sacred Cavern. Any who sensed a need and were sufficiently trained adjusted the magical sources, as required.

"With what is called the 'Original Covenant' only a few individuals, usually designated, through some formal process, carry out these roles for each species. Only amongst the Unicorns does every member of the species have an equal right and responsibility to carry out the magical duties assigned to the Unicorn. These changes represent the consolidation of power by certain leaders of each species. I and the other remaining priestesses see this as an unfortunate shift from a more democratic, universal interpretation of the Light Guardian religion.

"That is where your roles as Keepers and assistants come in. You help the magical creatures who read the warnings, and act to keep the local magic in balance. Only a Keeper may summon and speak to the Light Guardian. A very good reason is required and if the Light Guardian finds the reason wanting, you may be banished to a solitary place, not as punishment – the Light Guardian is not vindictive - but to protect the rest of us from your recklessness. There are only three reported instances of the Light Guardian's presence on Earth.

"I think I've told you more than enough for one visit. You have much to think about. If you walk down to my little apparating plateau with me, I'll transport you to the Burren, so that you'll be able to take yourself there whenever you wish."

We didn't do more than take a quick look around our landing zone in the Burren before we were off to Hogwarts, and the Witch Mafalda was home in her cave. The section of the Burren to which the Witch had taken us was devoid of structures, but displayed weathered limestone and sparse vegetation. Climbing a little hill, we saw a ruined circle fort in one direction, with a few tourists and several parked caravans. We didn't have the necessary tools to survey the lines of magical force.

We returned to Hogwarts for a little chat in Professor McGonagall's office. "It was useful for your adventures that Mafalda gave you your own ability to travel to Eire, but what I really wanted was for you to hear her brief summary of the Light Guardian religion. I'm glad Harry asked her the question about the Light Guardian. I was determined not to force the issue, but was disappointed that you were missing an insight by not more quickly taking me up on my offer to visit her. Today, there are no more than half a dozen Light Guardian priestesses in Britain and Eire and perhaps four priestesses of the ancient religions, only one of whom is in Britain. There used to be a few Wizards who served as religious leaders in both religions, but there are none today.

"I hate to add something else to your agenda, but I think it would be a real plus if all of you went into London, met the students and their parents on the platform and rode the Hogwarts Express with them next week. I don't want to be overly pessimistic, but I think there will be parents who make it to the station, but still need a bit of reassurance, before they finally put their children onto the train. I believe your presence will be very reassuring."

"Okay, it will be a blast to ride the Express again," Ron answered her. "Harry and I missed the ride the one year, when we, um, came by car. And then we all missed it last year. So, even with this trip, we'll be one ride short. Can we all ride as Prefects?"

"I suppose that you and Hermione can. Neville will be a Professor. As Deputy Minister, Harry will actually have charge of the whole train. Having Harry's two aurors on board should also make the parents feel safer. Ginny, George and Luna can be train marshals. I'm afraid Cissy will be limited to whatever prestige comes from being the wealthiest Witch in Britain and a British Lady Montaigne."

"I'm sure I'll manage," Cissy replied.

I'd manage also, but I had expected to be Head Girl or at least a Prefect. At least I would be the Quidditch Captain.

"I'm happy to do it," George assured Professor McGonagall. "I plan to move into London tomorrow, anyway. I'll stay above the shop, in Cho's old apartment, and help Lee with the back-to-Hogwarts sales rush. When the train's ready to leave, so are most of our customers. I've certainly missed my quota of Express trips. Give me a cell phone, and while I'm at Diagon Alley, I'll also give you an advance warning of any trouble there."

"I'm going with George," Luna chirped, "and I'll be delighted to come back via the Express."


	57. Chapter 57

**Chapter Fifty-Seven – But She's My Only Daughter!**

A Ministry owl arrived with our morning papers. The note for Harry was brief and to the point:

Harry,

"Booked two rooms at 10101 for this weekend. Tourists have the other two. Our odds for spying best with us who know the place and are old customers. One room for you and Ginny and the other for Hermione and me. Tell Hermione I'm the safe sort of old Wizard. I'd room with Barb but we need Hermione's knowledge on the spot. Tell Ginny I'll speak to Arthur. Come to my office soonest. I have information to help our cause. I have aurors for our holiday.

Kingsley

"This will certainly go over well with Dad," I told Harry.

"Not nearly as well as it will go over with Ron," Hermione said as she passed the note to Ron.

Ron did not disappoint and quickly expressed his indignation at having to worry about Shacklebolt as well as Victor.

"Victor is with Cho and you can't seriously see Shacklebolt as competition," Hermione told him.

It quickly became clear that Ron really didn't have his heart in his temporary indignation. "Of course not, he's older than my Dad. It's just the idea of the whole thing, to just drop this in a note to Harry without even mentioning it to us."

"You knew about it two minutes after Harry did, and you know that I did stress to Harry and Shacklebolt how important it was for Ginny and me to participate in this particular investigation. He didn't just decide to do this on his own. I've learned so much and can't know what is important until the need arises. I couldn't possibly just coach Harry on what he needs to know. Don't worry about me. I'll avoid unnecessary dangers."

After breakfast, we told Mom and McGonagall that we were off to a meeting with Shacklebolt and that some of us would also be with him the whole weekend. They both wanted more detail, but Harry said we were supposed to come right away. Harry seemed eager to give my Mom a goodbye hug. This surprised me, until I saw him slip Shacklebolt's note into her pocket.

We walked to the apparation pocket and were soon in Harry's ante-room. I walked to Dad's conference room, dreading another confrontation. Surprisingly, there wasn't one. Shacklebolt truly had smoothed the way.

Dad greeted the whole crew, but spoke specifically to me. "Kingsley says that your presence on this mission is vital and that he will keep you safe. I must accept that. Your mother convinced me that you are an adult and I must be more trusting of your decisions. I believe you that not much happened when you and Harry were last at 10101. I expect that not much will happen this time, either. You will be there for dangerous business, not your pleasure. I know you love food, but don't expect what you had last time. Kingsley was able to get reservations for Saturday through Monday, because the restaurant is closed Sunday and Monday. The operation won't begin until Sunday. If you and Harry want to arrive early for a Saturday night dinner, that cost will be on Harry. Good luck with the mission. I'll turn you over to Kingsley. I just felt it important that you know you have my blessing and that you understand my ground rules."

No hug, and Dad was off to other business.

The first words out of Shacklebolt's mouth were "of course we'll be having dinner on Saturday night. Harry and I will be happy to pay for it. It will be an enjoyable experience, but it also is part of the mission. The two tourist couples will undoubtedly be having dinner and it will give us a chance to look them over and make certain they aren't magical – same for any new staff members since the last time we were there."

"How did you convince Dad to let me share a room with Harry," my voice communicated how surprised and impressed I was.

"I admit that the first words out of his mouth were 'but she's my only daughter and she's just a young girl', but I was able to bring him around. I have a lot greater influence upon your father than I should have. When I honestly tell him that something is necessary and that I see no reasonable alternative, he invariably gives me what I need. He wasn't happy with this one, but I told him that since you were with Harry on the last trip, that it would look odd for either of you to room with someone else. I had more flexibility. Chef and his wife are accustomed to my arriving with various females. Your father was more upset with you and Harry being on a mission, than the two of you sharing a room. I assured him that I thought it most unlikely that we would find ourselves dodging curses on this particular mission. Now, down to business."

"Won't the staff think I'm awfully young to be your date?" Hermione inquired.

"Not so much, perhaps a little. Wear a lot of makeup and you'll pass without the juice."

Oh my God!

Shacklebolt continued undeterred as Hermione processed his last remark. "I promised you that I had some additional information. Hermione left the summary of her research with me. It confirmed my belief that chef and his wife are not magical. I did enough follow up to determine that the other investors only show up several times a year for a business status meeting and free food and lodging. None will be in residence this weekend. I made our reservations in person so that I could size up the staff. I saw nobody who was new since my last visit and I am convinced that none of them is magical. I took a Cho pen and can guarantee that none of them is on the juice.

"I think I have tied Frakes to the northern-most townhouse of that crescent. Even smart lawyerly Wizards can be lacking in creativity and bound by nostalgia. I simply pulled together his family tree. The phony name on the deed was that of his double-maternal great grandfather. If anyone but Lucius Malfoy had the knowledge to create a passable false identity, it would be our boy Frakes. He was known to impersonate a Muggle barrister in his earlier years. His dealings for Grindelwald and the Montaignes required business in the Muggle world, likely undertakings of too dicey a nature to delegate. He normally does not reside at the crescent this time of year and I confirmed that he will be elsewhere this weekend."

"That's very impressive," I told him. "Do we plan to break into his house?"

"As a last resort. I plan to focus on his backyard and the park. I'm quite certain that Madam Bones will not bless a search of the house and I'm equally certain that the place will be very well alarmed. We will be less ambitious on this particular trip, especially since I'm not convinced that he could shield the entire crescent from that one property. It would be a massive undertaking, on a par with the Hogwarts defenses. Far better magic than what I have on either my own house or the Muggle dwelling I've been using. Some of my lads did some checking, and we know that the church and churchyard also have anti-apparation barriers. That makes it likely that the church is being used to anchor the magical barriers. We're investigating the vicar and his staff. I've been able to convince myself that about half of the other townhouses on the crescent are fully innocent, but that leaves a lot of iffy ones. I've tied nothing to Fudge or Scrimgouer. We won't enter Frakes house until we understand what is going on with the other structures. I did think we might attend church together this Sunday, however. It will be a plus to have a young couple with a reasonable need to explore the rooms for the children. You can be new residents in search of a church."

I guess Shacklebolt did need our presence. I was more than a little surprised to learn that he had procured a baby for us to take with us to the church. He pleaded mission security, when I inquired about the identity of the baby in question.

"I've also been following up on Percy's comment that Scrimgouer spent a lot of time in the courtroom we're using as a jail. That also gave me a chance to see if my aurors had hidden any other cell phones or bombs in there. I did find a very cleverly-disguised cache that Scrimgouer had made for himself in the far wall. It was first-rate magical engineering used to hide it. I believe he did it on his own. Follow me and I'll show you what I discovered."

Shacklebolt led us through the jail to the far end of the room, where the hearing officer's bench would have stood prior to the conversion of the courtroom to a jail. He bent and lifted a small rug to reveal a smooth-cut hole a foot by a foot and a little over six inches deep. The depression had been cut into a large block of stone in the floor.

"It was disguised to look like a solid stone. I found it using the Flamel device, which Harry was kind enough to loan me. I never would have found it without that device. You could walk over this spot and it didn't feel any different than the rest of the floor. I worked with Scrimgouer, but didn't realize he had this much skill. The contents of the hole are back in my office, I just wanted you to see the hiding spot and the drawing that Scrimgouer made on the bottom of the hole."

"It's like a cartoon of a hand scratching a head," Hermione announced.

I edged forward to have a look for myself. I recognized the face, even before I did a lumos with my wand.

"Harry!" I shouted, pulling him to my side. "This is the blue doodle that we saw on the bricked up archway in the wall around the private park at 10101. It was up twenty-seven steps from the bottom of the path. Remember, I counted the steps. I tried to apparate from the point of the little up arrow at the base of the bricks. Remember what was written next to the drawing?"

"Yes, I do," Harry declared. "It was 'MMOVEMO' and 'PG-13'. They don't mean anything more to me today than they did when we discovered them."

"But now we know that they probably meant something to Scrimgouer," I told Harry.

"We'll definitely have a close look at those bricks," Shacklebolt promised. "If Scrimgouer could create the hiding place in the floor of the jail, he could have another within that wall. We'll take the Flamel device with us this weekend. I confess that I didn't intend to spend much time following up Percy's suggestion. Said I would mainly to humor him and move the meeting along. I can't say that I like the lad, but he is sharp. I'll have a second look around the shop."

We had arrived at Shacklebolt's office. It was my first visit to his lair. He had an ante-room to match Harry's, with a younger Witch than Callista manning the desk. The inner office was actually larger than Harry's. Shacklebolt directed us to chairs as he sat down behind his desk. He opened his top-right drawer and extracted a cloth sack. He spread the neck of the sack, then inverted it and dropped its contents onto his desk top.

"This is all that I found in that hole. A Muggle cell phone, a pile of Muggle money, a hundred gold galleons, a copy of the Covenant, a list of suspect aurors, including Tom Stowe and Bron Turner, pictures of Rita Skeeter transforming from a bug, pictures of Thicknesse and Umbridge together and the two of them with Lucius, and the talisman for installing the trace. The Minister's official seal isn't here, but there is this note."

He passed the note to Harry and Harry read it aloud.

"I am being watched and don't dare visit this cache again. I've borrowed the seal to hide it in a safer place. I will hide it tonight. For some reason, my watch is gone. I think they plan to kill me and don't want a witness. I've set the magical barriers as best I can. A secret side trip apparation and then I fear my work is finished. If I can't trust Thicknesse, then I am finished. There's no point in running, a Minister is no use on the run. I'll return and make my stand. At least some of my aurors are loyal. I actually wish Dumbledore was still at Hogwarts, but there is no way I can run there now."

"So we know the seal isn't hidden somewhere in the Ministry," Hermione concluded. "That drawing may well be a clue to its location. If Ginny has seen the drawing near 10101, then our weekend trip is really, really important."

That was it. Shacklebolt had nothing else to tell us. Hermione checked out the cellphone, but it contained no secrets. We had a day to kill, until we would be leaving for Edinburgh. It was back to Hogwarts for most of us, after a quick stop by Dad's office to make sure he was really alright with this adventure. I got the impression that he was no more than sort of alright, feeling it was his duty as Minister to approve my participation in a mission which could increase the security of the Ministry. As a father, I knew he strongly disapproved and had swallowed that disapproval.

Since Harry had stayed at the Ministry, I sought out Mom as soon as we returned to Hogwarts. That had the advantage of leaving the others to deal with McGonagall, but I also thought Mom deserved to know about and understand Dad's current mood.

Mom was very pleased that I came searching for her. Our abrupt departure from breakfast and the contents of Harry's note had alarmed her.

"I'm thankful that you're talking to me without Headmaster McGonagall. I hope the rest of your group are telling her very little. I don't like her knowing too much about your father's business – especially his problems. She tries very hard to influence his decisions and this one is just too close to our family affairs. I just know that your father isn't happy with this. Like keeping the Montaigne negotiations secret, this is a case when he feels he must just 'do his duty' as Minister, as unpleasant as he may find it. He still really can't say no to Shacklebolt. This must be tearing him up inside. Why Kingsley thinks it is alright for him to room with Hermione totally escapes me. So… is this adventure really going to happen and is your group alright with it?"

"I'm fine with it. I know Ron isn't happy. Hermione can take care of herself, but feels really icky knowing how the restaurant staff will be looking at her. Harry and I will be fine. Shacklebolt will have extra aurors and magical engineers there to help us. I think the seal that Dad is searching for really is there and I think that we can safely retrieve it."

"Then this trip will at least be worth all the aggravation."

I told Mom everything that we had learned from Shacklebolt, especially the graffiti on the park wall being almost identical to the drawing at the bottom of Scrimgouer's hidey hole. That part and the mention of Frakes' house in the crescent caused Mom to fear that our mission wouldn't be as safe as I expected.

"That old Wizard is very shrewd and he had connections to everyone who leaned toward the wrong side. He is not one to respond to his own alarm spell, you can trust that there will be henchmen close at hand. I'm not happy that you know so little about half the houses on that crescent. One of them could be the hideout for Rowle and the other missing Death Eaters. All of the mobile fighting skills you learned this summer will be useless."

"Honestly, I think that will disadvantage the Death Eaters more than it will affect us. They are much more used to mobile fighting than we are. We'll have plenty of aurors."

"True, but I know that your group has 'apparate back to Hogwarts' as your final protection, if you are outmanned. You won't have that this time. You will have to stay and fight – whatever the odds. I just don't like that."

The long meeting with Mom made us both very late for lunch. Harry and the others had already left the Great Hall, but McGonagall was still present. By the way she tried to pry details from me, it was clear that Harry had told her very little, beyond the fact that we would be missing for a few days. She wasn't pleased to left in the dark about our trip. Mom didn't let on that she knew anything more than McGonagall, merely commenting "if Arthur and Kingsley want Harry to keep something secret from us, it is important that Harry be able to trust that his friends won't blab – even to us."

The 'even to us' part got a rise from McGonagall, but she limited her response to a harrumph. This had been a rough week for her, with all of her attempts to wheedle the details of the Montaigne negotiations also being frustrated. She obviously did not believe that Harry and Dad hadn't revealed details to us. It actually made me glad that Harry had kept the details from me. I could honestly keep repeating that I knew nothing. Keeping silent about the Shacklebolt plan required entering the realm of what I would normally label as impolite, but McGonagall was so persistent that I had no choice.

Shacklebolt and several of his aurors plus two magical engineers arrived at Hogwarts just an hour after lunch. "Your headmaster knows I'm here, but I told her nothing beyond the obvious fact that I'm here to spirit you away for the weekend. She wasn't pleased. I think we should make our escape as quickly as possible. The church is vacant. We'll apparate to it and have a little look around. I don't want to stay there too long, it will look strange if we're caught in the church with our overnight bags."

We walked to the apparation spot inside the Hogwarts fence, joined hands, and after some twisting and turning found ourselves in the front of the church, in the open space between the pulpit and the pews. There were two aurors waiting there for us. One told Shacklebolt "the church is clear - we haven't seen anyone in the half hour that we've been here."

"Let's check downstairs," Shacklebolt suggested. "That will be the hardest area to get into tomorrow. Likely there is a crypt or some such below this level. That would be a good place from which to anchor and control the magical barriers."

The aurors who had greeted us had explored enough to show us the stairs. They had already unlocked the door. We stashed our bags among the row of pews and followed them to the stairs. From the steepness of the uncarpeted stone stairs, I was quite certain that we were walking down to crypt, rather than to a regularly used basement. It actually was an unfinished basement, with storage and utilities. Hermione searched it with the Flamel device, while Shacklebolt employed a smaller device he had brought from the Ministry. Hermione asked that we douse our wands, which permitted her to quickly determine where the magical force lines were located. The mass of storage forced her, after the first time she stumbled and fell across a box, to ask us to periodically do a 'lumos', so that she and Kingsley could safely move around the whole room. Halfway through the examination, Hermione called out to us.

"I've found more stairs going down. There's a very musty smell coming from the stairwell. I think it must be a bare dirt floor on the level below us."

Eventually, Hermione and Shacklebolt rejoined each other, having traveled along the walls in opposite directions. "No significant anchor points or alarm spells along the walls, just evidence that we are in a place that has been subjected to magical engineering. I think the action is all on the level below us. There is an alarm and tamper spell at the mouth of the stairs down to the next level."

Shacklebolt directed his magical engineers to deal with those spells. The rest of us waited. Hermione tried to clean all of the grime off her clothes, from where she had splatted onto the filthy old box of whatever. She was not entirely successful.

"We can go down now, the protective spells have been neutralized. They were quite complex," the older of the magical engineers reported to Shacklebolt.

Shacklebolt left one of his aurors to cover our rear and the rest of us started down a truly treacherous flight of narrow, curving stone steps. The magical engineers went first, carrying the device with which Shacklebolt had scanned the basement. Hermione was trying to glance through the Flamel device, without falling on the steps. She was having a very tough time, and then she actually did slip. Harry grabbed her from behind, keeping her upright. Hermione was complaining that she had skinned the back of her hand against the wall, when one of the engineers called for us to freeze.

"There's another alarm spell at the bottom of the stairs. Like the one at the top of the stairs, I think this one reacts to wands. That's probably to prevent a Muggle from triggering the alarm. We'll disarm it without using our wands, but like before, that will take a little longer than normal."

It was probably the same amount of time, but standing in a cramped, dank stairwell creeped me out enough that it seemed like we waited for an hour. I blabbered to Harry and Hermione about next to nothing, just to keep my mind in a halfway happy place. I tried to disguise my unease, but Shacklebolt saw right through it.

"I'm not feeling terribly happy just standing here, either. It's the smell of the tomb, which plays on the nerves," he told me. "There won't be many interments here. We're in the New Town part of Edinburgh. Probably just a few church notables down here. It's amazing what you can find underground in the Old Town. A lot of Witches and Wizards have lived – actually still do live – there. Remind me to take you there some time. I'm quite sure you'll enjoy it. It is a fascinating old world that the Muggles have covered over and left behind. I know some very interesting spots that aren't on any of the Muggle tours. They're still our territory."

That didn't help. My mind hadn't yet carried me to the realization that there likely were actual burials down here. I was most grateful when the older engineer called back to us that it was now safe to enter the crypt.

Shacklebolt was correct that there hadn't been a lot of burials here. Fortunately, all of the bodies were in wooden coffins. Of the twelve available niches for coffins, eight of them were filled. As I was musing, Hermione called out.

"Get in a stable standing or leaning position and douse your wands. I'm going to do a quick scan with the Flamel device to see if I can locate any intense magical force lines."

One by one, the wands were extinguished. Before the last wand went out and we were in total darkness, Hermione gasped "Oh my…! I've never viewed anything this bright. The middle slot on the right hand wall, rear position is just blazing rose through the viewer. There are all sorts of thick lines coming from it, most going through the ceiling but a lot through the north wall. I'm done. You can relight your wands."

We were happy to do so.

Shacklebolt immediately headed for the coffin in question, but I observed that he was careful not to touch it or even come too close. He quickly confirmed my observation.

"This thing probably has more working alarms than the Ministry. It says 'Annabella Fudge 1740 – 1842'. Well, we knew Fudge spent time in Scotland. If he was making promises to Harry, he likely found his old ancestor and recognized something was off about her coffin. Fine, I just wanted to have a quick look see. Happy to let the engineering boys get about their business. In fact, I think we'll leave you to it. I want John and Fred to stay here, figure out the defenses on this, and be ready to disable it when I phone John. We won't be making our move until after nightfall tomorrow, so be careful and take your time. I want no mistakes, but I also want this thing disabled and or apparated out of here to a very distant point within ten minutes of my phoning you. I'll leave you an auror in the basement, for your protection. It's time for the four of us to check into 10101 and the rest of my aurors to make themselves invisible. Bill and Barb are booked to join us for dinner. We'll be dining at seven. The reservation is in Barb's name and I've already paid for your dinner. Good luck all!"

As we prepared to leave the crypt, John requested "once we figure this thing out, may we wait with the auror in the basement. It would be safer and it is really uncomfortable down here."

"Of course," Kingsley allowed, "but not until your work is done. Phone me if you find out anything important."

We checked in and were shown to our rooms. Shacklebolt had asked us to join him in the second floor drawing room a half hour after check in.

"Are you up for another bubble bath tonight?" I asked Harry.

"No, I'm quite sure that your Dad is going to be checking out how I smell on Monday. Your grime smell last time was a flop. It just left me looking dirty while smelling like a flower garden."

"That's fine. I don't mind sleeping with grimy Harry. Remember our nights under the invisibility cloak at the start of summer? That was fun, but we've progressed since then. Haven't we?"

"Umm, yes I guess we have."

"You wouldn't want Hermione and Shacklebolt to get ahead of us would you?"

Harry snorted the port he had been drinking and was collapsed in coughs on the sofa. I knew he was dying to retort, but he could barely breathe. Speaking wasn't going to happen for a little while. Harry reached out and grabbed my wrist.

{[frustrated and upset but still laughing inside] That wasn't fair. You know I'm going to be grilled by your Dad and that Hermione and Shacklebolt will be just a wall away from us."

"No they won't. They're at the other end of the hall. There's a utility room between us. I promise not to be a screamer."

{[very upset] Now you're just laughing at me.}

"I'd never do that, Harry. I'll laugh with you, but not at you. Don't you also find our situation a little absurd? I do understand. It must be impossible having to work for your girlfriend's father. Dad has turned out to be just… a lot more old-fashioned and controlling than I ever would have expected. Now that you've stopped coughing, at least give me a snog."

Harry was quite willing to oblige. At least that was something. When we joined Hermione and Shacklebolt in the drawing room, I saw that he had obtained a full bottle of port and four glasses. He had filled each glass half full.

"Don't worry about Bill and Barb having to rough it. They and my lads are registered in the hotel farther up the Terrace. I picked younger aurors, mostly Muggle-born, so that Frakes or his buddies are unlikely to recognize them. They are under orders to act like proper Muggles. I doubt Frakes will show up, but he'll have somebody watching his house, you can count on that. It's going to be a tough night for the lads back at the church, but that can't be helped. From Hermione's description of what she saw in the viewer, John and Fred have the toughest job they've ever faced. If they can turn off the alarms and move whatever is in that coffin, and I assure you that the lady in question never existed, then they'll have to blow it up. They've got their wands and some Muggle explosives. Whatever it takes to do the job. I don't want that thing operating when we attack the wall. You should sip your port, Hermione. Roll it around in your mouth and get the full flavor experience. Ah, that's better.

"We have time for a nice stroll, before we need to get ready for dinner. After we've finished this bottle, I'd like for you to show me that bricked section of the wall. Don't stop when we get to it, I don't want to draw attention to what we're after. We'll walk all the way to the top of the stairs. Just say 'what a lovely day' as you pass it. I'll be right behind you and will give it a quick look. Hermione will restrain herself from pulling out the viewer. We'll come back after dark, if need be."

We walked up the path alongside the wall. As I walked by step number twenty-seven, I stretched my arms over my head, glanced at the sky and declared "what a lovely day this is," pausing long enough on step twenty-nine to give Shacklebolt a good look at the graffiti.

"Yes, it is a lovely day and this air and exercise is just what we needed after that dank crypt. And yes, that definitely is the same drawing that Scrimgouer added to his little hiding spot. I'll bet this is his handiwork. The 'PG-13' and the up arrow were added by a different artist, but the other letters are also Scrimgouer's. I'll bet they're a clue to help the good guys retrieve the seal and bypass whatever alarms he put on his hiding place. I want to make it at least far enough up the path to see if anyone is watching us. It is a beautiful view from the top and a watcher would have a hard time hiding from us. Especially with Bill and Barb coming up the path behind us. I doubt anyone knows we're here, but it's best to be cautious. I've also got an auror at the top to the hill, playing with a dog. She should see anyone who's been spying on us."

We made it to the top, enjoyed the view, got the thumbs up from the dog walker, and another thumbs up from Barb as we passed her and Bill on our way back down the path. So far, we seemed to have escaped attention. Shacklebolt had been giving Hermione an occasional hand up the steeper steps or a steadying hand on her elbow "just in case anyone is watching. You are supposed to be my date."

I really pitied both Hermione and my brother.

Back at our room in 10101 we had twenty minutes to dress ourselves suitably for dinner. Harry and I would not be over-dressed as we were at our prior dinner here. Changing for dinner got us both down to our undies, which led to another quick snog. It was clear than Harry did not intend to be late for the time set by Shacklebolt.

We were last into the dining room. I saw that a Wizard whom I didn't recognize was dining with Bill and Barb. As soon as we sat down and the hostess moved away from the table, I asked Shacklebolt about him.

"I did a little snooping when we arrived and learned that the tourists who will be staying here tonight are two couples from Germany. They are seated together in the far corner. I thought that I would be able to tell if they were magicals, but since German Wizards are a lot more assimilated than British Wizards, I thought it best to recruit help from Viktor Krum. He sent one of his aurors to check out the tourists for me. I thought I could spot a sheltered German Witch, but then realized that two German Wizard baddies could come with two Muggle women as cover. The German Auror's first name is Hans, I don't know why he won't tell me his last name. Anyhow, he'll accompany us on our adventure tonight."

Hermione voiced my thoughts "I don't think that I could tell a Wizard just by appearance, if he was dressed to look like a Muggle. Especially if he had worked for years in the Muggle world and if he was foreign and naturally a little strange to me."

Shacklebolt seemed to think that Hermione was accusing him of over-selling his observational skills. He merely said, "yes, well, that's why Hans is here in any case. He knows the majority of German Wizards and almost all of the baddies by sight. He hasn't given me the signal that he recognizes any of the tourists, so they are likely alright."

Our waiter appeared with menus. Most of the starters and main courses were the same as when Harry and I were last here. I wanted to order the new items. They fit with my desire not to over-eat and find myself sluggish for the adventures ahead. I chose something called 'cauliflower' cheese for a starter and a salad with beef, olives, and anchovies for my main. I saw that one of the desserts mentioned both chocolate and coffee, along with a lot of other ingredients, and determined to order that one. No soup and especially no cheese platter for me tonight.

Hermione and Harry followed my lead in going sort of light, but Shacklebolt said he always did the five courses. He is a large Wizard – fit but large – so it made sense. Shacklebolt also ordered a bottle of white wine. He had most of it to himself, as the rest of us took only half a glass, wanting to be ultra-alert tonight, in case an unexpected threat materialized.

Much of our dinner conversation revolved around Shacklebolt's speculation that the letters written by Scrimgouer likely represented the sequence of spells and charms required to unlock his treasure, without triggering an alarm spell.

"I thought 'M' might stand for 'muffliato' – you'd need that to avoid attention if you blasted the wall—or perhaps 'mortarrottum' for the parts you didn't need to blast through.

"I haven't heard of 'mortarrottum'," Hermione confessed.

"It's a very old spell. A spiteful way to make your enemy's hut leak rain. For 'O' I thought perhaps 'obscuro', 'oppugno', or even an obliteration charm. There aren't a whole lot of spells and charms that start with 'V', but I thought perhaps 'Visio' or a vanishing spell."

"I don't know 'Visio', either," Hermione told Shacklebolt. "What does it do?"

"Ah yes, 'Visio' is an obscure but utterly delightful charm. It is taught in auror instruction and can be most useful. It is a way of sensing things which have been made invisible by a charm, spell, or even an invisibility cloak. You speak the spell as you turn your head. It allows you to just barely see the object out of the very corner of your vision. It can also be used, in exactly the same way, to observe not quite ghosts – unsettled spirits who would otherwise be invisible and nothing more than a slight chill or the standing up of the hairs on your arm. A wise auror definitely packs 'Visio' in his bag of tricks. It can even be used to sense the anchor point of a particularly strong tamper, alarm, or exploding spell."

"That does sound useful," Hermione agreed. "I suppose that 'E' would be either 'expulso' or 'evanesco' – both would be useful."

"Don't forget 'engorgio'," Shacklebolt cautioned. "Swelling the bricks or mortar would cause them to crack – hopefully without making too much of a racket. I can see a need for that spell."

"True," Hermione replied, "but that only compounds the problem. We don't know which 'E' spell is the right one, same for the other letters. If we guess wrong, we trigger the alarm spell. I think that gives us less than one chance in ten of getting the sequence right."

"Possibly true," Shacklebolt agreed "but Scrimgouer wrote the letters to enlighten, not to confuse. Putting no letters at all would draw the least attention and present the most confusion. He must have wanted us to have a high likelihood of choosing the correct spells and charms. I thought that the 'M's might progress in alphabetical order, for instance. Although – I can certainly see needing a 'muffliato' on both sides of the wall."

"How does that help us, if we already have to be on the other side of the wall to do the second 'muffliato'?" Hermione inquired.

"Well," I think I know a way to cast that particular spell on the far side of the object. I also hoped that we could send an auror to the other side of the wall, either through the kitchen of 10101 or by simply chucking him over the wall. I guess her is more appropriate, it would be easiest to chuck Barb over the wall."

This led to a lot of back and forth, with no clearer plan emerging than Shacklebolt's ramblings. I thought we wouldn't know what to do, until we were standing in front of the bricks and had viewed them with the Flamel device. That was being optimistic; likely we still wouldn't know what to do with any degree of confidence. I felt that in the end, we would likely have to just blast through the wall and move quickly enough that we were gone before somebody responded to the alarm. If we were too slow, we would have to incapacitate or kill that somebody. I remembered Mom's warning that we might not be able to apparate to safety. It seemed obvious, but I voiced this concern to the others.

Harry didn't think it was obvious. "As long as we stay outside the wall we should be able to apparate. Barb will be in great danger if we throw her over the wall."

Shacklebolt agreed with me. "Harry's right until the point that we trigger an alarm or breach the brick wall. Either of those actions could cause the anti-apparation barrier to expand and envelop us. It is a risk that we need to be aware of."

The food was excellent and we were all in great spirits until dessert, when the dessert waiter made the mistake of looking at Hermione and inquiring of Shacklebolt whether "your daughter will be having dessert."

Shacklebolt did a McGonagall-quality harrumph, but merely replied "I believe Hermione would prefer that you ask that question directly to her."

Hermione had the lemon curd cheesecake, saying that my glowing description of it made it impossible to even consider any of the alternatives. Hans, Bill, and Barb finished their dinner and left about ten minutes before we finished. After that suitable pause, and with the German tourists still in place, Shacklebolt suggested "if you have all finished your teas, perhaps we could step outside so that I can have a quick smoke."

We took the hint and followed Shacklebolt out of the dining room and 10101. As I walked down the stairs, I saw the aurors standing in front of the church. We walked down to join them.

"Well?" Shacklebolt asked Hans.

"I don't recognize them. They don't act like Witches and Wizards. They also don't act like Germans. I believe they are French or Belgian. I'm sorry, I can't be any more certain than that."

Shacklebolt was clearly both surprised and interested in this report. "That certainly is strange. They made the booking through a travel agency in Munich and told Mrs. Chef that they were German. They are using German names. I much prefer the days when hotels took your passport. It was much easier to learn about your fellow guests. For now, we must treat them as a threat. We shouldn't be seen with Hans. Back to our rooms, then the four of us will meet in the shadow next to the church in an hour. The aurors can't melt into the dark."

The need to change into darker clothes as night camouflage gave me another opportunity to encourage Harry to engage in further snogging. He was totally willing and seemed to really enjoy himself. I know that I was pleased, although not happy that we had to limit ourselves to less than a half hour of snogging.

I glanced into the dining room as we left 10101 and observed that the 'Germans' were missing. That wasn't at all startling, an hour being more than enough time for them to have finished their meals and either gone out for the evening or returned to their rooms.

Hermione called to Harry and me, as soon as we approached the church. They joined us and we headed up the path to the bricked arch. We had pulled on black ski masks. It was very dark and I felt confident that we were quite invisible to prying eyes. Of course, we seemed just the sort of challenge that the 'Visio' spell had been designed to overcome.

We stopped in front of the bricks and Hermione carefully scanned them with the Flamel device.

"There are definitely multiple spells and charms in place. From their location, I'm guessing two alarm spells and two tamper spells, with the whole center of the brick wall showing a lot of magical activity. There may well be something magical hidden under the center bricks."

Shacklebolt borrowed the viewer from Hermione and studied the bricks for himself. "Yes, I agree that our treasure is quite well protected. I'm sure something is hidden here or on the other side of this arch. Possibly both."

He examined the stone wall surrounding the bricks, going both uphill and downhill, while focusing upon the top of the wall. He passed the scanner back to Hermione, commenting "there are magical protections at the top of the wall. One couldn't simply climb over the wall without triggering an alarm. I believe we've accomplished all that we can achieve tonight. We should still go to church tomorrow. Back to our rooms and meet for breakfast at nine."

Harry and I slept together, without nightclothes. It was basically a repeat of our last night at 10101, with the exception that I didn't push Harry's limits, so our emotional link was unruffled and seemed stronger. I slept well and was ready to face whatever might confront us this Sunday.

Breakfast was more meager than during our last visit. With the kitchen closed, there was fruit, toast, granola, yoghurt, juice and coffee. After the big dinner, it was fine. We had already dressed for church, so I expected just a short walk after breakfast and we would be there. Shacklebolt had a surprise, which really shouldn't have been a surprised, since I had been forewarned.

"Don't go rushing off, Ginny. I have to fetch your baby. He's at the hotel up the terrace."

So, we turned right instead of left as we left 10101. As we approached the hotel, Shacklebolt announced 'it's Harry's Godson. I understand both that Harry has wanted to visit him and that Harry knew a visit would be unsafe. I assure you all that I borrowed him in the safest possible way. He's with Barb."

"I didn't have a baby last night," I told Shacklebolt. "What if our French Germans come to the church? It will look very strange for me to suddenly have a baby. I think it needs to be Barb's baby."

And so it was, and a very good thing, because the 'Germans' were at the church. Whether they were spying on us or just wanted to attend services was impossible to know. They did seem surprised to see Barb with the baby. Barb simply told them "left the kid with my Mum last night. We needed a night out and one of my school chums was visiting and was nice enough to take us out to dinner."

I thought they were covertly watching us during the service. Scouting the church was not going to work. After the service was over, Bill and Barb went one way and the four of us walked down the hill and headed toward Princes Street. I thought we would be expected to do a little sightseeing. We hadn't walked all that far along the street at the base of the hill when Shacklebolt's phone rang.

"The boys are having some difficulties with the item from the crypt. They say the thing is as complex as the control stone at the Ministry. I must go, but the rest of you should walk around and later have lunch somewhere. We'll meet for dinner at that Indian restaurant at seven." He jerked his thumb toward a restaurant across the street. "There are three aurors shadowing you, so you should be safe enough, but don't let your guards down. And don't obviously look around for people following you. That's the aurors' job. Just look as though you're enjoying yourselves."

Shacklebolt was off.

"Before anyone says anything, "Shacklebolt slept on the couch. I'm willing to do my part in this adventure, and Shacklebolt did nothing to make me more ill at ease than steer me around by the elbow once or twice, but I'm going to be really pissed if anybody teases Ron about Shacklebolt."

"We wouldn't do that," Harry rushed to assure Hermione. I nodded my agreement.

"I expected that the two of you would be fine, it's George, and Shacklebolt's aurors, and maybe Shacklebolt himself, who worry me."

"I'll speak to George," I promised.

"Shacklebolt won't tease Ron, he knows it would upset Arthur," Harry declared with total certainty.

My gut told me that Harry was correct. I should have known that. As the girlfriend of the youngest son of his best friend, Hermione was totally safe with Shacklebolt, in a way that any other recent Hogwarts female graduate would not be. The bond and loyalty between Dad and Shacklebolt flowed in both directions and was every bit as strong as the bond that Harry felt for Ron and Hermione.

I enjoyed the day and I didn't notice an obvious tail on us. We arrived at the Indian restaurant safe and sound, a few minutes after seven. Shacklebolt was already seated at the table. As soon as we sat, the waiter came over with the menus. At Shacklebolt's urging, we ordered quickly and then sat back and waited for the waiter to move far enough away that we could be told the reason for the rush.

"You were followed by one of the phony German couples. A very professional job and they did it at a good distance. They couldn't possibly have overheard anything you said. They peeled off about an hour and a half ago. Bill and Barb were followed by the other German couple. They had to walk to a house which I had set up as a secondary staging area for the aurors. They didn't want to take the baby back to the hotel, since they didn't arrive there with it. I'm not sure if there shadows suspect anything. It's worrying that all of you were followed. It complicates tonight's action. I think we'll have to sneak into the back garden of 10101 and let the aurors handle the outside of the wall. This mission is becoming more complicated than I expected and I don't like it. I've ordered up reinforcements. I also have an auror shadowing Frakes, but he hasn't left London.

"The engineers back at the church disabled the tamper and alarm spells on the coffin. They removed enough of the coffin to find a black rock monolith inside it. It's big - a foot, by three feet, by eight inches and polished smooth. It seems to be lodestone, with clear crystals mounted in its top. The engineers are afraid to move it or to mess with it any more than they have. They may just have to grab it and try to apparate when they get my signal. If they can't do that, we may have to abort or use the Muggle explosives to fracture the thing. That could be dangerous. This has suddenly become not a simple mission. I have four aurors waiting to storm Frakes' townhouse, if need be."

"It sounds like you've decided to go ahead with the mission," Harry commented.

"No choice. I'm afraid we've drawn enough attention to those bricks that if we don't harvest the hidden seal, the bad guys will. It's unnerving that we don't even know who these particular bad guys are. I don't think Frakes is a Death Eater. He may have thrown in his lot with Montaigne's Grindelwald buddies and these phony Germans may be Grindelwalds. There will be a French auror joining us very soon. I want to see if he can identify these tourists. Whatever he says, we move tonight. It just could get messy."

"How messy?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think any of us is in danger of getting killed or seriously injured, but Arthur could have some very tough questioning from the Wizengamot. Harry and I could be banned from a favorite restaurant. There may be a lot of Muggles in need of confunding. There may be a very embarrassing hole in the church. Arthur may be most displeased with us."

Shacklebolt set the start of the mission for one in the morning, assuming the staff of 10101 would be home or asleep by then. We would make our way through the kitchen and into the back yard. He said he had spirited one of his reinforcements, a magical engineer who was adept at wand fighting, up to his room.

"Malcolm will be our rear guard, to deal with any tourists who wander downstairs at night. He'll also make sure that we don't trip any alarms on the way out through the kitchen and across the yard. We have to make our way to other side of the bricks, which means breaching the inner wall at the rear of the garden. Hermione will have to be our magical engineer for that operation. Malcolm has to stay in the kitchen, or the tourists might sneak in and set up an ambush. I'll stay in the kitchen while Malcolm sweeps the outdoor stairs.

"I'm not expecting a fight, but prepare your minds for one. Everyone should use the 'petrificus totalus' as their attack curse. Go to that first. 'Protego' only if definitely needed. We can't afford to hold back, if we are threatened. Treat the tourists as hostile. If you see them you drop them. Unfortunately, the same for hotel staff. We'll try to confund them, when we revive them, assuming we are in control of the field of play at game over time – which I'm sure we will be, I've brought plenty of troops. Remember, you can't apparate, but neither can your opponent. No mobile fighting. You're harder to curse if you're lying on the ground or hiding behind and obstacle. Dress in black. Harry and Ginny should come to our room at one. Got it?"

I think we all had it. Harry and I returned to our room to prepare our minds for battle. Waiting is the worst. We did a half-hearted snog. Mainly we looked out the window, listened for noises in the building, and rehearsed how we would respond to an attack. Basically just drop to the ground and 'petrificus totalus' as we were dropping.

At a few minutes to one, my adrenaline was gushing through me. Up until now I had been on a mission of discovery and retrieval: a tough mystery to solve. Now I was ready and eager for combat. I knocked softly once on Shacklebolt's door and it opened immediately.

"I've ensured that the night porter is sleeping. We go down the stairs without shoes."

We were very quiet. The kitchen was sort of locked off from the rest of the first floor. The dining room door opened to our touch. The kitchen was separated by a sliding glass window above the counter. It was easily magicked open and we were climbing across the counter and then moving across the kitchen to the basement stairs. Harry reclosed and locked the sliding window. The rest of us moved to the stairs to the basement. Both Malcolm and Hermione's look through the Flamel viewer said the door was not alarmed. We lit our wands and made our way down the stairs. Shacklebolt asked Harry to stay in the kitchen to cover our rear, since Malcolm needed to check the basement and the outer door for alarms.

I basically just followed Hermione and Malcolm as they cleared our way. The rear door was locked and Hermione said it had "a Muggle electrical alarm, but a very simple one. It doesn't need a code – fortunately."

It took about ten minutes for Malcolm and Hermione to clear this obstacle, then we were through the door and in a sunken concrete patio. Malcolm led us up steep concrete steps to the backyard. There were no alarms. He wished us luck and returned to the kitchen to replace Harry. When Harry rejoined us, we walked across the yard to the locked gate in the rear fence.

While Hermione checked for magical alarms, complaining "I'm not sure I could detect one on the other side of the gate," Shacklebolt phoned his teams.

"We're at the gate in the inner wall. We should be at the brick wall in ten minutes. It's time for everyone to be in place. I want that monolith gone a minute after my next call. If something goes wrong, we have to keep going and find the seal. Everyone not working on either side of the bricks has to protect those who are. Don't rush Frakes' house unless I give the word."

Hermione had the gate open. "Should I lock it behind us?"

"I think so. It makes it easier for us to deny involvement in this. I have explosives. We can blow the outer wall if we need to escape."

We used just one lit wand to scramble up the hill and pick our way to the outer wall. I was getting scratched and Hermione had fallen and scraped her knee, but we pressed onward. Even once we reached the wall, we had a tough time moving along it toward the bricks. There were bushes, we were moving along a steep slope, there were brambles, there were holes in the ground, there was slippery wet grass. I was scratched, I slipped and fell, I lost and had to grope to retrieve my wand. It took us fifteen minutes to reach our side of the bricks. I looked back and saw that all of 10101 was still in darkness. If anybody had awoken, they hadn't turned on a light.

As soon as we reached the bricks, Hermione started examining our side with the Flamel device. "More alarms," she told Shacklebolt. "I can't disarm them, never learned how."

"I should have stayed in the kitchen and given you Malcolm, but I foolishly thought I needed to be here. Too late to change that. I have some experience neutralizing tamper and alarm spells. If Hermione can help me…"

"I'll try."

"Point them out at the attachment points, then I'll have a look. Yes… have to undo this tamper spell first. It's a bastard, almost the same distance from where I have to hold my wand as the second tamper spell. I need to do this wandless."

We waited. I held the Flamel device for Hermione and Shacklebolt. Harry protected our rear. It seemed to take forever, but was probably just a few moments. Finally, Shacklebolt declared "Got them! Had to undo them both at the same time. This alarm spell will be easier. It's good to know I've still got the old skills. A senior auror doesn't have much cause to do this – just call in a magical engineer. It's the lazy way and a very bad habit. There, got it."

Shacklebolt phoned the guys on the other side "we're ready, just let me call the lads at the church and I'll be right back to you."

"Do what you have to do in exactly one minute. Then if you can, join the lads outside the bricks. If you can't, back to the Ministry with you."

"Okay, we're going to work through the list of spells and charms with the guys on the other side, starting with 'muffliato' and 'muffliato', agreed?"

"Yes," Harry and Hermione replied in unison.

Shacklebolt phoned the guys on the other side of the barrier. "Okay, we are going to do 'muffliato' together in fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven, ten, nine, eight , seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, muffliato."

So far so good. I hadn't heard an explosion from the church or seen lights flooding from any of the houses on the crescent.

"I think 'oppugno' from your side makes most sense," Shacklebolt said to the guys on the other side. What do you think, Hermione."

"Do it."

"You heard her. They say they've done it. A few bricks are gone at the edges of the center section. I'm thinking 'visio' next?"

We all agreed. "Go ahead," Shacklebolt ordered.

"They see something," he reported. "Still trapped in the bricks though. I know it's a guess, but I'm really thinking 'mortarrottum' now."

"I have nothing better," Hermione told him.

"They think it's working," Shacklebolt reported. "Time for 'expulso' even though that's the last 'E' spell alphabetically. It seems what the situation calls for."

"Agreed," Hermione told him;

"They've got the seal, but think they just tripped an alarm. Get ready everybody!"

It started to pour rain right on top of us, as lights came on in the nearest house.

"Meteorolojink recanto!" Hermione declared.

The rain stopped.

Hermione began invoking an obliteration charm to remove the evidence of our presence on this side of the wall. We slipped through the hole in the wall to the pathway. Harry dropped two Wizards who were running at us with a double 'petrificus totalus'. My Harry is back!

Harry joined us outside the wall. Shacklebolt accepted the seal from one of his engineers. "Thanks, lads, job very well done. Take those two baddies who were rushing after us back to the Ministry jail. Do a little more to cover our tracks. Perhaps an 'incendio' here at the opening, then you're back to the Ministry. Set off one of the smaller bombs, so the Muggles can say that's what made the whole in the wall.

"I think the four of us should see if we can apparate back to our rooms. You want to arrive in fighting formation. No telling who's waiting for us."

We were able to return to our room. Harry had the foresight to whisper 'night clothes'. We scrambled into them, before there was a knock on our door."

"Yes?" Harry said as he moved to the door.

"It's the night porter, Sir. I think a bomb has just gone off outside. I think all of the guests should assemble in the dining room."

"Thank you," Harry replied, opening the door. "Just let us throw our raincoats over our night clothes and we'll be right with you."

I grabbed my coat. As we left the room, I saw Hermione and Shacklebolt preceding us down the stairs.

"Do you know what happened to the Germans in the second floor rooms," the porter asked Harry.

"Don't know, it's awfully late to still be out partying, don't you think. I'm sure they'll be very embarrassed when they turn up."

The four of us allowed ourselves to be herded into the dining room. The doorbell rang and the porter went to answer it.

"What happened to Malcolm and the 'Germans'?" Harry asked Shacklebolt.

"Malcolm dropped two of them, when they tried to enter the kitchen. The others fled. Malcolm tidied up and apparated to the Ministry. It's fortunate my lads got the barrier down in time."

The porter returned, accompanied by a middle-aged man and a young woman, both in uniform. "It's the police," the porter told us. "They want to speak to us. They're making sure everyone at this end of the crescent is safe. There was a largish bomb went off in the park. Blew a hole clean through the wall."

"I guess we should be thankful that the restaurant wasn't damaged, " Shacklebolt replied.

"Could we have a word with the five of you?" the policeman asked. "The porter says that there were four other guests staying at 10101, but that they've gone missing. Can you tell us anything about them, before I search their rooms?"

"Not much," Shacklebolt replied. "The four of them ate dinner together last night and we saw them sitting together at church – you know, the church down the hill, this morning. As I was going off to visit the local sights, I saw one pair of them walking down the hill and the other pair walking up it. I haven't seen any of them since then. That was a little before noon today, I guess a little before noon yesterday."

"Thank you, Sir," I'm going to have to ask all of you to wait here in the room with my partner. I can't guarantee that it's safe outside. When something like this happens, everyone thinks the safe thing is to just immediately rush back home in the middle of the night, but it isn't. You'll be safe if you just remain in this room."

Harry reached out and touched my hand. {[worried] I locked our room when we came down here. I didn't have anything left in the room, which would cause a problem if it was searched. Did you?}

{{No, Harry. I left my robes at home, as Shacklebolt asked us to, and I have my wand with me. I brought my broom, but it's just a straw hat at the moment.}}

{[still worried] If they search us we can hide our wands in this room, but I don't know where Shacklebolt put the seal.}

The doorbell rang again. The policewoman went to answer and returned with an older, mid-fifties woman.

"Hello, Kingsley," the new woman greeted him, "I'm sure we don't need to detain you for long. I believe that it is already safe outside – lots of police. A small terrorist bombing to cover a theft and vandalism at the church. We're checking to see if anything was stolen from the church. We found nobody near the scene of the explosion, but I'd hardly expect to."

"Should you be telling all of this to this gentleman?" the policewoman asked. "We haven't finished clearing these four. I don't think they were involved, but four other guests of the hotel are missing. They were all Germans."

"Well that likely explains it. German communist terrorists – they're having something of a revival. I can vouch for these four. They're with me and I'd rather you not make a record of their presence here. If you would be so kind to fetch your partner."

The two police soon joined us, with the policeman asking our friend, "and who are you to take over my investigation?"

"I'm sorry, I thought your partner told you – Mrs. Toms, Special Branch," she displayed her credentials. "My associates are going to pack and be on their way, and you are not to mention them in your report, other than to say you talked to and cleared them. They were spotting out the Germans for me. Foreign terrorists, but not very skilled ones."

We quickly went upstairs and packed. It took about all of two minutes to pack, but Shacklebolt led us back into our room and showed us a couple of sanitizing spells. "Don't want to leave any personal evidence for the Muggles. Special Branch telling them to ignore us will just make them that much more interested. He took a jar from his pocket and sprinkled a few hairs on the bed and in the bathroom. A few more flourishes of his wand and we were gone. "Had to leave them a few acceptable finger marks," Shacklebolt whispered.

Mrs. Toms had a car with a driver. We piled in. She drove right past the police road block, then drove a mile with several turns, before pulling over into a church driveway.

"Now, please tell me what just happened."

"We had to recover a powerful magical artifact before it fell into the wrong hands," Shacklebolt explained, holding up the seal for her to examine. The Germans weren't really Germans. We think they were French or Belgian and we're fairly sure they are our kind. We captured two Wizards from the townhouse nearest the church. They came to assault us after we stumbled over an alarm spell in the wall. We set off a small bomb to cover our tracks. There was another extremely powerful magical artifact inside a casket in the church crypt. I think we retrieved it. If not, my men had orders to fragment it with a small bomb. Be very careful with the pieces if it's still there. It's a large, smoothly polished, black rectangular rock. If it's there, my people can check it out for you. We've got two of the phony Germans and will try to find out who they actually are. The French Wizarding police have sent a representative to interview them. I don't think we left anything incriminating behind in the yard or park, but will certainly appreciate any cleaning up you need to do."

"Fine for now. I'll be expecting a fuller report. Can you fly away from here? I recognize Harry Potter. Is this the girlfriend he took to 10101 when I made reservations for him?"

"Yes to both. This is Ginny. She is our Minister's daughter. Your Prime Minister has met her."

"Alright, away with you, and I expect my report within the day."

We got out of the car and apparated to the Ministry. Dad was waiting for us, having been summoned when the first members of our party returned.

Dad looked upset. He was upset. "At least you're all safe. Where were you?"

"We needed Mrs. Tom's help to shed the Muggle police," Shacklebolt replied. "All is well. Here is your Ministerial Seal. I need to talk to my men to find out more of what happened. I understand they brought back four prisoners."

"They did. I didn't want the other prisoners in the jail to see them, so they are under guard in your office. The monolith is intact, it is still functional, it is in a forested area of Scotland far from Hogwarts, and we are guarding it, until we can figure out what to do with it. It will surely attract the attention of some baddies very soon, if it hasn't already. We can hold them off, if there aren't too many of them. If there are too many baddies, your aurors have orders to blow it up as they leave. I'll leave you to finish your business, but Harry, Genevra, and Hermione are coming with me."

We followed Dad back to his office.


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter Fifty-Eight – The Elven Rights Bill**

It took a while to find Mom, and when we did, she was with McGonagall. I knew that Harry wanted to give less information to McGonagall but that a report was required. I said that we were looking for Ron and would try again back in our common room and deferred to Harry for a very brief report.

"As you can see, we are all safe. Despite some complications and bad guys, the mission went well. We recovered Arthur's Ministerial Seal, captured four baddies – we don't know who they are, and had to set off a small bomb to cover our trail. Our contacts in the Muggle police are handling things in Edinburgh. Shacklebolt was very pleased with our performance during the mission – Hermione and Ginny really were needed. So was I. Now, we must be off to Gryffindor."

We found Ron in the common room. Hermione hauled him off to her dorm room for a detailed description of everything that had happened over the weekend. At least that's what she told the rest of us, causing a mildly amused look, but no comment from George. It wasn't long before Mom arrived. She had gotten the hint that if she wanted more information, she had to find us in a place not shared by McGonagall.

"Your father is both pleased and concerned. He sent me a floo message, while I was in the headmaster's office. I didn't reveal any of your secrets to the headmaster. I admit she's nosy, but she is your headmaster. Arthur says the two tourists you captured are Belgians and that they were hired underlings. One of the two that got away hired them on behalf of an unknown boss. They were ordered to follow you and retrieve any object that you found in the area. The two Wizards who Harry stunned in the park both live in the first townhouse on the terrace. They were not on the Ministry's radar and claim that they were just defending their property against vandals. That's all, except that Arthur knows you've been wand fighting and he isn't happy about that. He says Shacklebolt compliments all of you on your performance and willingness to follow his direction, but that he is not entirely happy with Shacklebolt's approach. He wants to see Harry first thing in the morning."

After that meeting, Harry told me "It was a strange meeting. Your father couldn't seem to decide if he was pleased or angry with me. I think both. He is upset that you were in another fight, although I told him that you really weren't in a fight. You were in the protected inner circle and nobody fired a curse at you and you didn't fire a curse at anyone. I had to admit that I was fighting. It was obvious, since I had to unpetrify the two tourists. I'll stay at Hogwarts the next couple days and let Shacklebolt ease your Dad back into a calm mood."

A few days later Harry returned from the Ministry announcing "The Minister is in final negotiations with King Goblanze on the Gringotts charter extension, and the Wizengamot question session on the Elven Rights bill is tomorrow. I'll have to represent the Minister and answer the questions from members of the Wizengamot. The session starts at 10:00 A.M., so we'll just barely have time for a quick cram session with Percy, before the meeting starts. For now, I need to find out what Hermione has learned from her meeting with the Hogwarts kitchen Elves."

"Well, it's a lot worse than I suspected, and the Frakes family again rears its ugly head," Hermione frowned as she gave her report. "There are no schools for Elves. What magic they can do, they are born with or learn on their own. Apparently most of the Elves that work at Hogwarts, the Ministry, or in private homes were raised on an Elf farm run by Ebenezer Frakes, with the help of his brother, who for some reason is known simply as RF. The poor Elves are bred like animals, and their children are sold to the highest bidder when they are eight years old. They are not taught to read or to do anything besides the skills required to cook, clean, and generally provide service to their future Wizard masters. There apparently are a very few free Elf families hiding in the countryside. Hunting them down and capturing them for sale is RF's specialty.

"At this moment in time, there likely are fewer than two-hundred free-living Elves in Britain and Ireland. The Elf farm produces about thirty Elves for sale each year. The estimate is - and I got some of these facts from the Ministry, but the kitchen Elves agree the numbers look correct - that about seven hundred Wizard households own 1015 Elves. That means about fifteen percent of Wizard households own at least one Elf. Hogwarts owns forty Elves, the Ministry owns a hundred and forty, St. Mungo's owns eighty, Gringotts owns a dozen, and various other Wizard businesses own forty more. There are about a hundred Elves at the Frakes' Elf farm.

"The mood of the kitchen Elves has changed over the past two years. The majority now want freedom. I'd say thirty of the forty would vote for freedom, if given the option."

We arrived at Harry's office at 7:00 A.M. to continue the Elf discussion with Percy. Percy reported, "The good news is that my count shows that we barely have enough votes to pass the bill. The opposition will oppose us, but some of them are unsure about being too outspoken: the messes with Voldemort and Bruce have tarnished the public's perception of those advocating for 'the traditional Wizarding lifestyle'. More and more it sounds like a rear guard action by the rich and formerly rich to guard the privileges that they held above the majority of other Wizards.

"I was trying to find you something that might swing over the undecided members of the Wizengamot, as well as a few who don't want their family name associated with anything overly awful. I found it. I snuck into the Elves' 'dormitory' at St. Mungo's and I can assure you it is a real hell hole. To make certain you wouldn't be embarrassed by raising this issue, I also checked out the Elves' quarters here at the Ministry and at Hogwarts. They're not great, but they are far, far better than what St. Mungo's offers. Given the past uncovering of unsavory activities on the part of St. Mungo's, their Elf dorm should resonate.

"Then, the last several weeks, I decided to emulate your group. I apparated in and out of the Frakes' Elf farm, without being detected. I managed to make ten visits over the past two weeks. I even got some pictures of their operation." Percy spread the pictures on Harry's desk. He had a dozen of them showing the Elf breeding pens, the nursery, Elves sweating at heavy labor, the Elf dorm, even a grieving Elf mother having a child snatched away. The final shot showed the meager food allotment at the Elves' dinner."

"Ew, these are really disgusting Percy, but I agree that they should be very effective," Hermione sort of complimented Percy. "I knew from the start that I had chosen a noble fight, I just didn't realize how badly needed my fight was. I don't know what I'll do if Harry can't convince the Wizengamot to vote for the bill."

"Well," Percy replied, looking at Luna, "you can all thank Luna's father for a little help over the past two days. I think this morning's Quibbler is especially delightful." Saying that, Percy flourished a copy of the paper from his attaché case and dramatically spread it before us on Harry's desk, so that we could read the headlines.

**Will the Wizengamot Approve Slavery in Today's World? **

**Elves Forced To Work in Brutal Conditions **

**Is Free Elf Labor Stealing Jobs From Wizards?**

The accompanying stories sold our position as only Xenophilius was brave enough and talented enough to do. With The Quibbler nearly matching The Prophet in circulation the last few months, these articles were guaranteed a large readership.

"He has a lot of facts and figures and some heart-wrenching pictures," Hermione was pleased to conclude.

"He certainly should," was Percy's reply. "I spent half a day with him, regurgitating all of the research that I had done and sharing some of my best pictures. Don't worry, Harry, I saved the best Elf farm and St. Mungo's pictures for your use. Here are the St. Mungo's pictures, by the way. We owe a lot of lower-level employees at the Ministry and St. Mungo's for their help on this one, by the way." Percy showed us the St. Mungo's pictures, and they were almost as dramatic as the pictures from the Elf farm. "Mr. Lovegood will print some of these pictures in tomorrow's edition," Percy enthused.

Harry insisted on a quick visit to the Ministry's Elf dorm and a final review of the bill's wording, before going down to the Wizengamot. At the Ministry dorm, Hermione led a mini pep rally for the two dozen Elves that could be gathered on such an impromptu basis.

Harry spoke slowly and forcefully as he stood before the Wizengamot, outlined the key provisions of the Elven Rights bill, and explained why the Minister felt it was important to pass the bill. He claimed the election had been a mandate for the bill, since he and Dad had been easily elected and this bill was a key platform plank that both Dad and Harry had discussed repeatedly, with both the press and the public. After fifteen minutes, Harry sat down, took a few sips of water and waited for the questions to begin. He sat at a large table flanked by Percy and Hermione, who could pass necessary facts to him. Shacklebolt and Prudence were also at the table, as a show of support and the Minister's concern.

It appeared that our old nemesis Gowan Frakes was going to lead the opposition. "It strikes me as very insulting," he began, "that with a bill like this up for discussion and vote today, a bill that could wipe away a big part of the traditional way of life for many Wizard families, that the Minister chose to be elsewhere and sent his Deputy to meet with us."

"The Minister regrets his absence," Harry replied, "but as you know, he is engaged in delicate negotiations with the Goblin King. I can assure the Wizengamot that I am fully versed on this bill and willing and able to answer your questions."

"I certainly hope so!" Gowan came as close to shouting as a Wizard of his age is capable, barely allowing Harry to finish his sentence. "I note with amusement that you claim that this bill should be enacted, because freeing the Elves was a part of your election platform… and yet, there has been no mention from your administration of any bills or even progress on drafting bills to actually honor those parts of your platform that I'm certain were of far more interest to the majority of Wizards and far more responsible for your election than this absurdity of freeing the Elves. Unless you're an even better cheat than I believe you to be, you didn't get swept into office on a wave of Elf votes. I'm talking of course, young man, about your pledge to reduce taxes. You say you want to bump up the economy. Nothing does that like a tax cut. You promised 10% tax cuts for any Wizards earning less than the average income, yet nobody has seen their taxes reduced by so much as a Knut."

There was silence as Harry engaged in several minutes of frantic whispering with Shacklebolt and Prudence. There was a pause in the whispering and then Shacklebolt and Prudence nodded yes.

"This administration meant everything that we said in our platform about that tax cut," Harry assured Gamot Frakes. "We've been presenting bills to the Wizengamot as fast as you can take them up. Not everything can happen at the same time."

"Prove your interest! Tax cuts are an easy campaign pledge that is readily abandoned after the election. I want to see taxes cut, before we vote on Elves. Wizards before Elves, I say."

"Here's what I can do," Harry answered him. "I'll agree to the following amendment if anyone wants to make the motion. 'The one galleon tax on each worker is immediately repealed. Each tax rate currently in existence will be reduced to 90% of the current percentage tax rate for all individuals or households whose income for that year is less than the median income for the prior year. The Minister shall calculate and report that average income to the Wizengamot by 1 October of each year. This reduction in the percentage tax rates shall take effect for the first tax collection date occurring at least one year after this act is passed by the Wizengamot."

"I prefer immediate action on the tax rates."

"We can't possibly calculate the medium income by the upcoming tax collection date. This will reduce the taxation of income earned any time after about a month from now, since we're less than a month from the autumn equinox tax date."

"Alright young man, give me the paper that you were reading from and I'll move the amendment."

Harry handed him the amendment, and Frakes read it and made the motion. The motion was seconded and the amendment was approved.

"Now then, to my next point," Gamot Frakes continued. "I am especially concerned with some members of the Great Families and business families, living in what can most gently be described as 'genteel poverty and the encumbrances of advancing age', for whom their house Elves are perhaps the most valuable property they still own and the only thing permitting them to maintain something approaching the lifestyle to which they and their families were accustomed."

"That's the crux of the problem," Harry quickly responded. "Elves are not, as you call them, property. They are intelligent magical creatures who deserve to be free, just as you or I. Slavery cannot be excused by the necessity of trying to sustain a lifestyle that is no longer sustainable, and that in any case is beyond the means of the majority of Wizards."

"I'll not have you playing the class warfare card with me young man," Gowan shot back. "You are too young to understand the importance of these things. Wizard life is changing all too quickly, and now you want to wipe away some of what was the finest, most civilized, genteel way of living in the Wizarding world."

"It was you who played the class card with your statement of the need to preserve the privileges of the Great Families. There are a lot of institutions in the Wizarding world that have served to hold back the progress and well-being of the majority of Wizards and other magical creatures, in order to perpetuate the special privileges of the current and formerly powerful. When you trot out the term 'Great Families', you are playing the class card. When you dare to justify slavery, you are most definitely playing the class card."

"I can see I'm not going to make any progress with you young ingrates by talking about tradition, so let me speak instead of practicality. The Elves don't wish to be free. If you freed them, you would be dooming them to starvation. They are not able to fend for themselves and depend upon their Wizard masters for shelter, food, and purpose in their lives."

"I've discussed with the French and German Wizarding schools and Ministers of Magic how Elves are treated on the Continent. They are free. They are productive. They are not starving. They have far better lives than Elves in Britain. The Wizard families on the Continent are doing fine with free Elves. Many Elves work in their homes for a salary."

"That may be so, but their traditions are different. This is Britain. You wouldn't want to trade our ways of living and thinking for those on the Continent, would you?"

"Actually, all of the Wizarding communities have a lot to learn from each other and should be working together more. All of our numbers are too unsustainably small to keep dwelling upon these ancient prejudices."

"Young man, I speak not only for myself. Other members of this body have asked me to represent them in questioning you. I do this as an obligation to fight for the continuance of some of our finest traditions. I don't do this out of personal gain. I also do this out of concern for the Elves, who have become very attached to their Wizard families and employers and whom I'm convinced, even if you are not, do not want this bill that you would ram down all of our throats. Elves are very well treated and looked after, far better than they could manage on their own. The present system removes the risk of starvation and destitution from their lives."

"That's quite a few things to respond to. First, how do you know that the Elves don't support this bill? How many Elves have you spoken to? We've spoken to quite a few, and a large majority want this bill to be approved.

"Secondly, do you really want to defend slavery as a hallowed tradition? Wizards say we are better than Muggles, but the Muggles gave up slavery long ago.

"I don't know why you would say you have no personal self-interest in perpetuating Elf slavery, when your two grandsons run the only Elf farm in Britain and one of your sons actually hunts down wild Elf families to break up and sell into slavery.

"I don't know why you would think Elves are well treated, when you only need to visit your sons' farm to learn the truth. Since you haven't done so, I'll share some pictures taken at your sons' farm". Harry passed around Percy's photos, to a variety of dark mutterings, some indignation, and a little outrage from the members.

"I want the name of the person who gave you these pictures," Gowan demanded. "That person is obviously guilty of trespass and in the case of this Wizengamot debate, the more morally offensive crime of presenting unrepresentative pictures, taken totally out of context."

Percy stood up behind Harry and spoke. "I took those pictures and I can guarantee the members of the Wizengamot that they are wholly representative of the conditions at the Frakes' Elf farm. If the members doubt me, I suggest that we apparate there right now, so that you can all see for yourselves."

"I refuse to have the Wizengamot turned into a body of trespassers because of the actions of an overzealous young aide of an even younger deputy," Gowan declared.

"Not trespassing at all," Percy declared. "The pictures showed enough questionable activity that Madam Bones obtained a writ permitting the Wizengamot entrance to the farm for an official inspection."

A quick vote was taken, determining that the Wizengamot would visit the farm immediately and that Percy would be arrested for trespass even more immediately. Percy's arraignment would have to wait, however, since he was the only one able and willing to apparate us all to the farm. A quick walk to the lobby, a joining of hands, and we all found ourselves standing in a hell hole. The field trip lasted a highly dramatic half hour. Fifteen minutes later we were all back in our seats.

"Lest anyone believe that mistreatment of Elves is limited to the Frakes, I also have pictures of the Elf dorm at St. Mungo's. While not nearly as bad as the so-called Elf farm, conditions there are certainly not at all good." Harry passed around these pictures, offering to lead an excursion to St. Mungo's if any members doubted the veracity of what the pictures showed. He was not taken up on this offer. One member commented, "I think the hospital has had quite enough bad stories of late, although it is clear that additional corrective actions are needed."

The rest of the question and answer session was tamer, as another opposition member replaced Gowan as the questioner. Harry gave clear, concise answers to how Elf pensions would be handled, how the Ministry, Hogwarts, and St. Mungo's could exist with paid Elves, and why it was not reasonable to compensate the families forced to free their Elves. As the questions dwindled to silence, we left the members of the Wizengamot to debate among themselves and to vote later in the afternoon.

We stayed at the Ministry, reviewing the proposal for the young Wizard loan agency, as we awaited the Wizengamot's action. Harry had to take a thirty minute break to arrange bail for Percy. At 5:30, Dad stuck his head into Harry's office to report, "I really don't know whether to congratulate you or to scold you. You certainly got action and made a big stir today: the Wizengamot handily passed the Elven Rights Bill, but a lot of Gamots are very upset with the way you and Percy shamed Gamot Frakes.

"I'm also not so pleased that you just blew close to a 3,000 galleon hole in this year's budget. I don't know what we can do to make that up, but I have the finance department looking into it. I know that you had the approval of Shacklebolt and Prudence, but even though I wasn't immediately available, this should have had my approval. Gamots on our side voted for this, thinking that I supported it. I had to admit to one Gamot that I had never heard of the proposal and you were a 'self-empowered thinker on your feet'. That Gamot's only response to me was 'oops'.

"That is not to say that I am not very pleased that Gamot Frakes has been taken down a notch or that the Elven rights bill has passed. That was among the more difficult parts of our platform to get through the Wizengamot. A month ago, I wouldn't have thought that possible. I also would have thought the Wizengamot would have been snarled for weeks over this bill. That's why I had to disappoint Hermione and tell her that I couldn't do both the Elven rights and voter expansion with Witches' rights bill at the same time."

"I know. You and I talked about that problem a lot over the past several weeks. That's why I took the action that I did. Frakes had backed himself into a corner, where he had to either accept the tax cuts that I proposed or mumble something and just sit down. I realize that I lost us some revenue. I would have asked your permission if that were at all possible, but it was either act immediately or have the Elven rights bill lost and our tax reduction subjected to just the sort of scrutiny and efforts by Frakes to extend it to wealthy Wizards that I know you wanted to avoid. Now it's passed the way we wanted it.

"It also will give the vote to a lot of the disenfranchised Witches. Remember, we had discussed that a lot of wives don't vote, because they pretend that their husbands earn all of the farm's or shop's income in order to save the one galleon worker tax. With that tax gone, many more Witches will vote. With more Witches voting, it will be far easier to pass bills increasing the rights of Witches. That's what I was thinking when I made that proposal to eliminate the tax."

"Well, perhaps you had a better day that I thought you had," Dad sort of complimented Harry. "I'll bet the opposition thinks they've pulled one over on me and doesn't realize how many more Witches will vote in the next election. That's really quite clever. I had a good day as well. The negotiations on the extension of the bank's charter are complete, except for some final massaging of the language. I think it will be ready for the Wizengamot in a week. You'll be pleased to know that the road remains open for your Young Wizards Loan Agency. You should get Percy to wrap up the language on a proposed Bill. I hear Percy has had both a success and a short stint in jail. I'm glad our Death Eater prisoners didn't do away with him. It's been a very good day, and I would be pleased to take all of you out for dinner at a Muggle restaurant. I understand you've developed a taste for Indian food."

Now, that was a compliment. And the Indian food was tasty and very welcome.

At breakfast the next morning, the papers were full of talk of the Elven Rights Bill, and a surprising death, but we wouldn't see them for an hour. We learned about the death as soon as we got to the table. Percy had apparated from the Ministry to break the news to Harry as gently as possible.

"Hi Harry," Percy began "I wanted to bring you the news personally. Gowan Frakes was found dead in his Wizengamot office early this morning. He apparently had a massive heart attack early in the evening, but wasn't found until the cleaning Elves came through at 1:30 A.M. Dr. Sprout came over from St. Mungo's to confirm the cause of death. He said Gowan had heart problems for the past decade…"

"But he died yesterday, right after I had a big fight with him in front of the whole Wizengamot, shaming him and his whole family. Voldemort sort of killed himself, when the Avada Kedavra curse he fired at me blew back and killed him. So at this point, I've killed at least as many Wizards with my mouth as with my wand. Professor McGonagall said focusing on government service would take me away from the violence, but now I've killed again."

"You shouldn't blame yourself," I pleaded with Harry. "Gowan was a very old Wizard, probably a couple decades older than anyone else in the Wizengamot. At most, you hastened what was inevitably going to happen by a few days, as soon as he got positively or negatively excited about anything, or ate a crème brulee. You did nothing wrong. You and Gowan argued about a moral principle that you both felt passion about. I happen to believe you were on the right side of that argument and that you should have been doing everything you could to win the Elves their freedom."

"But Percy said we were already marginally ahead. I didn't have to make a personal attack upon Gowan's family."

"I'm the one responsible for that attack," Percy persuaded. "Don't pretend that I told you the battle was won and you charged off against my wishes with reckless personal attacks. I gave you the pictures because I intended for you to use them. If you didn't have a ready response to Gowan's attacks on the bill and appeal to nostalgia, our small majority would have quickly turned into a minority. That's why I was so desperately searching for ammunition. The Wizengamot is older, richer, and more conservative than the Wizard community as a whole. Gowan was given the job of attacking the bill, because his appeal to tradition could swing a fair number of votes. We needed to demonstrate just how abhorrent slavery is. You can't end centuries of extreme social injustice by being overly polite. The Gowan's will always try to kick the decision another decade down the road. I'm sorry that Gowan died. I'm especially sorry that you feel responsible, as I knew you would, which is why I came right to Hogwarts before you could read of the death in the papers.

"My message to you in this – Gowan was peddling a load of crap in the Wizengamot yesterday, pretending a lack of financial interest in the bill. Many of the Gamots weren't aware of his grandkids' business, a business that he bankrolled, by the way. That's the only way that kids can start a business. The business is run as low-key as possible, with no advertising, the family name not on the business, and those who purchase the Elves not even being allowed to visit the farm. It's all word of mouth and then an employee of the business shows up with an Elf and collects the payment. They wouldn't conduct business like that if they didn't realize how sleazy it is.

"Hogwarts doesn't buy Elves from the Frakes, by the way, and the Ministry only bought from them when Thicknesse was in charge. The Frakes were making a ton of galleons out of Elf slaves and their operation was horrific. You were there, yesterday. Can you honestly tell me that exposing that kind of abuse for a galleon isn't exactly what our government should be doing? Yes, Gowan was embarrassed in front of his peers, but that is only because of how successful his family has been at hiding the true nature of their business. He was a highly educated ancient man who knew his law and spoke extremely fluently about the refined life of the Great Family elite, but what you saw at the farm yesterday exposed that as a lie. There was nothing genteel or refined about the Elf farm.

"The grandkids are facing charges, by the way. I expect they'll spend a bit more time in jail than I will. I just hope I can avoid jail for the next two weeks, or all the work load will get dumped on Callista. As I said, I'm truly sorry if we hastened Frakes' death, but I don't regret my role in this for even a second."

"I must say, Percy," Professor McGonagall beamed at him, "I am very proud of you for risking jail to fight for the Elves' freedom and to expose their mistreatment. I'm embarrassed to say this, but that shows a depth of character that I hadn't realized was there. It also says a lot that you rushed here to save Harry some anguish. I believe you are exactly right. Harry has nothing to feel badly about. Gowan was trying to perpetrate a fraud on the Wizengamot, playing upon their nostalgic sympathies for the lost old ways, while ruthlessly supporting the slave trade. I knew there was something off-putting about the man, but I hadn't realized just how unsavory a character he was."

"Yes, Percy, you're the hero of the day," Hermione chimed in, giving him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "It was also very considerate and sensitive of you to recognize the problem Gowan's death would cause for Harry and to rush out here. You must start really early at the Ministry, by the way."

"Thanks, Hermione, I try to get to the Ministry for breakfast at 6:15. I've discovered a group of knowledgeable mid-level Ministry managers who always get together for breakfast at that time. I can pick up a lot of useful information, while I eat. The guys are half asleep then, and less guarded in their comments than they normally would be. I've never violated their trust by telling Harry what any of them said; I just use their comments as a jumping off point for my own research.

"And thank you, Professor. I also wasn't aware that I was willing to go that far to support the Elves, until I found myself actually confronted by the decision. I just kept finding more and more flagrant injustices as I did my research, then my breakfast pals tipped me off to St. Mungo's and the Elf farm. Some people at the Ministry have been aware of the Frakes' activities for several years. During the Thicknesse regime, there was no chance of action being taken. Even now, the lower and middle level Ministry employees were too intimidated by Gowan's power to act directly, or even send their concerns up the line. Apparently the Elf farm started about twelve years ago. Initially, all was reasonably good and they honestly passed their government inspections the first three years. Then the grandkids got greedy for more galleons and greatly reduced the money they spent on the Elves they were raising. That's also when RF took up Elf hunting. Usually he would just murder the adult Elves and steal the babies and infants. Adult wild Elves are difficult to convert to satisfactory house Elves. It was a bloody, ghoulish business that RF ran, and from all I heard, he thoroughly enjoyed his hunts."

Bill, the auror, looked very concerned and warned Harry, "RF seems like a nasty brute. You would be well advised to stay well clear of him."

As our breakfast appeared, all of the kitchen Elves came out of the kitchen to join us, carrying a large cake to honor Percy and blowing little horns to honor their freedom. "Don't worry about jail, Mr. Percy, there will be Elves at the jail to protect you from the Death Eaters," the leader of the Elves promised. "For headmaster McGonagall, we meet soon to negotiate our salary. Miss Hermione is our consultant."

The owls arrived right after that to give us the papers' divergent political views. The Daily Prophet headlines trumpeted:

_**An End to the Hallowed Tradition of House Elves – Is Minister Weasley Changing Our Lives Too Fast? **_

_**Great Families Grieve For the End of an Era **_

_**Frakes Family Humiliated, Business Destroyed **_

_**GAMOT FRAKES TRICKS 'YOUNG POTTER' INTO AGREEING MAJOR TAX CUT**_

I read this last article closely and it pleased me no end. Apparently Frakes' last act on this Earth had been to disparage Harry as a foolish and callow youth, whom he had easily out-maneuvered 'to obtain a glorious outcome for our community, even if I was unable to block the obscenity that freeing the Elves represents'. Frakes went on at great length to explain the 'great significance of this tax cut, which this administration certainly never would have imposed, had I not pushed its weakest link. I even got a greater tax cut than they promised in their platform'.

The second last story was written in tear-jerking fashion and lamented 'the destruction of a legal and honest business run by two hard-working lads, whom I couldn't be prouder of. They've shown the level of enterprise that few young Wizards show these days. Now their efforts have been dashed by a very young Deputy Minister, who hasn't had a real job in his life'. As I tried to sense Harry's emotions, without letting on that I was doing so, I felt that as he read these two articles, he was feeling considerably less guilty about anything he may have done to hasten Gowen's demise. I felt a lot better when Harry messaged me [still feeling somewhat guilty] Perhaps I didn't actually kill him. He may have choked on his own bile.}

Ernie had a very balanced article on page three, under a tiny headline "_**Elves Emancipated**_", in which he described the history of the enslavement of Elves, how the institution of slavery had warped Wizard society, why he supported its abolition, and the specifics of the changes to be wrought by the bill. He spoke of the inhumane conditions at the Elf farm, apologizing that management would not permit him to include the photographic evidence.

Xenophilius was under no such restriction and his Quibbler was filled with the most worrisome of the pictures from both the Elf farm and St. Mungo's. He gave an accurate, if overly emotional, account of the bill, the Wizengamot hearing, and the history and practices of Elf slavery, under heart stirring headlines:

_**Wizengamot Ends Slavery **_

_**Gowan Frakes Defends Grandsons' Despicable Elf Farm **_

_**Hunting Free Elf Families for Joy and Profit **_

_**St. Mungo's Abused Its Slaves - A Personal Apology from Doctor Sprout**_

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	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter Fifty-Nine – Yet Another Clandestine Meeting**

Thicknesse had summoned Barty in advance of their normal meeting, using a short article planted in the Daily Prophet. The article had appeared on page eight, denoting that the meeting was set for 8:00 P.M. The location, a seedy Muggle bar in Manchester, had been chosen long ago as the default location for an emergency meeting. The disguise was also pre-determined. Rather than using the hair agreed upon at their last meeting, Barty was to use the hair from a heavily-muscled young Muggle tough, which Thicknesse had given him months before the Battle of Hogwarts.

Thicknesse was always a big one for having plans on top of plans, even in times of peace and their own total supremacy. Barty didn't know whether Thicknesse was that much wiser than he, far more prone to seeing the gloomy side of things, or simply bad at spur of the moment decisions. In any case, this unlikely communication strategy was now in place. He was glad that he had maintained the practice of religiously scanning each Daily Prophet from cover to cover. Thicknesse would be furious if he had missed the article. Now he was searching for a Muggle twenty-something female, with pink hair. He spotted her at a table in the far corner. A tall, gangly youth with a pock-marked face was earnestly chatting 'her' up.

Striding over to the table, Barty coughed and demanded "Eh! Leave my bird alone." The look he received back from the youth indicated that this must not be the au currant way of phrasing this. He had to ostentatiously slide a long knife from a sheath on his belt, before the youth mumbled an apology and backed away.

"I expected to arrive first, Pi. Why the emergency meeting? Have you been flushed from your hideout?"

"No. I don't think the aurors have a clue where to find me. Still, things have not been going our way. Potter and Weasley are gaining momentum, instead of looking inept. Senior Frakes has been more than a slight disappointment. I don't know why he seemed the best choice to rally the Gamots against the administration. He is not a great loss, but we need a replacement. You are in a better position than I to get some galleons to a good candidate. We need someone who has credibility with the more susceptible Gamots and isn't afraid of causing a stink. Don't tell me who you choose, but choose quickly. Weasley was supposed to have no successes with the Wizengamot."

"I know a Gamot we can depend upon. Fearless, hates Weasley, won't shrink from the press."

"Good. The other thing we need to do is present a challenge that Weasley's 'gently, gently' approach can't deal with. Can you still get in touch with Rowle? I'd like to hear that some more bombs have gone off. Everyone is getting too settled into this new administration."

"I'm in contact with Rowle. I'll set something up immediately. Are you now in charge of things?"

"Soon. Apparently the last two fiascoes were inadequate to sway those who follow their emotions, rather than their brains. I don't even know who directed that operation in Edinburgh. My nominal superior denies all knowledge of the incident or the Belgians in question. We want to find them before the Ministry does. It pays to know all the active characters. Our side isn't seen as doing anything or it's blamed for the actions of amateurs. That's another reason why we need to seize the initiative. Not only do we make Weasley seem ineffective, we make another certain someone appear content to just sit around and wait for whatever… another bad idea, I suppose. I have a more direct attack for you to orchestrate, one that will put a dent in Potter's game. We still need to find a Witch to pursue Potter. Can you find a Veela who supports us?"

"You know I'm eager for all of that, the subtle action, as well as the bombs. It's the sitting around that kills me. What do you want me to do?"

"The upside from the Frakes problem is that Percy is going to jail. It would be most easy for him to die there. I need you to smuggle a message into the lockup. You know who to contact. He won't be there more than a week, so you'll have to act fast. Set it up before he gets there. His father will improve security for the sake of his precious son."

"Consider it done, within the day."

"Good. We'll keep these identities for our regular meeting. Goodbye Gertie."

The pock-marked youth had returned with three friends. They all had knives. Barty pointed his wand at the leader.

"Lost your knife?" the youth jeered. "Or, you want us to use little sticks, too. Not likely."

There was a prolonged flickering of green light and the four youths were on the floor. When the bartender looked over to investigate, the pink headed tart and her tough were gone.

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	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter Sixty-One – Percy Goes To Jail**

It was one of those unfortunate coincidences that saw Percy marched off to jail that evening, just scant hours after the Death Eaters were thrown into the Ministry jail. Madam Bones had declared that since he had pled guilty to trespass, in return for a sentence of a week, that there was no reason he should be wandering about the Ministry any longer. She seemed to feel that she was being exceedingly generous by letting him eat dinner first. It was nice that he got a cell to himself, rather than sharing with a Death Eater, but Lucius had also received that treatment, more for security against a Death Eater attack than as a courtesy.

For some reason, which she couldn't explain other than to claim that she needed to enforce justice impartially and that the Wizengamot was growing impatient, she didn't even give a heads up to Harry or my Dad. Neither of them said a word, although I could tell that Harry was seething. We found out about it from the Elves. We were eating dinner, when two Elves came to our table and told Harry, "We leave for Ministry, before Mr. Percy go to jail tonight."

That sent Harry back to his floo fireplace, before he had finished dinner. I snagged some spiced poached pear for each of us and followed to the office. A series of papers pffted back and forth, with Harry continuing to scowl. We had been in the office for about a half hour, and Harry hadn't touched his pear, when McGonagall rapped on the door to inquire if there was anything important, which she could be told about. Harry fairly babbled his displeasure, but concluded by saying, "I'm not going to complain, that's just what that Witch wants. At least the Elves will keep Percy alive and safe from Madam Bones's scheming."

McGonagall was telling Harry how much she thought he was over-reacting, when there was another pfft from the fireplace and Harry caught another note. "This one's from Director Shacklebolt," Harry announced. "He says that even though I'm not coming to Percy's defense, he is not going to take this surprise event lying down." Harry read to us:

"_**I told that Witch that things simply aren't done that way. Sending a vulnerable member of this government to jail, without giving me advance notice to arrange adequate protection, is bad. Doing so right after a Death Eater bombing, with 3 Death Eaters just being sent to my jail, is totally irresponsible. You can believe I told her as much. Don't worry, I've set up a rotation which will always have one of my most trusted aurors at that jail. I know about and welcome your Elves. I told Arthur that he needs to stand up to that Witch."**_

Things seemed settled as we went off to our respective dorm rooms. I wasn't at all happy about McGonagall's automatic excuse-making for Madam Bones. I still remembered how unjustly Madam Bones had treated Harry years earlier, when he was simply defending himself and Dudley. My brother hadn't really done anything seriously wrong, and he had exposed major law breaking – law breaking that Madam Bones would have known of, had she any interest in pursuing the misdeeds of the Voldemort crowd.

I felt that I had barely reached deep sleep, when Hermione was shaking me awake. "Wake up Ginny. I've just been visited by an Elf. Somehow Mrs. Goyle got a wand inside the jail and tried to murder Percy! The Elves stopped her and Shacklebolt's auror disarmed and re-arrested her. We are to return to the Ministry as quickly as we can dress."

Harry, Ron, and Bill were waiting for us in our Common Room. Harry asked Neville to inform McGonagall where and why we had gone. We walked to the apparation pocked and almost immediately found ourselves in Harry's ante-room. I was surprised to find Callista already at her desk. "The Minister wants Harry to come to his office," she informed us. "The rest of you should wait here with me. Percy is with the Minister."

"Does anyone else think that Madam Bones may have been part of a plot to kill Percy?" I suggested.

"No, I don't," Callista replied. "Madam Bones can be abrasive, and she and Shacklebolt have been fighting much more fiercely than I've ever seen, but she most definitely is not a Death Eater supporter. She apparently did not feel it appropriate to let Percy off with just a fine."

"I don't think she's the enemy," Hermione agreed, "but she hasn't exactly been a friend, either. Look at all the bad things that we know Dr. Sprout did, and she didn't even seek to fine him."

"I think it is very convenient how she survived her abduction by the Death Eaters," Ron declared with great vehemence. "Can anyone think of another case where that happened?" We could not.

Callista could. "I recall that the three of you and Harry all survived your capture. So did Luna and Mr. Ollivander. It is not unheard of. If you include those who were Imperiused or confunded and sent on their way to do the Death Eater's will, the number is actually very large. You might count Hermione's parents among that latter group, although your intervention aborted whatever plan the Death Eaters had for them."

Ron chose to change subjects. "I don't understand why the aurors didn't protect Percy. Why did the Elves have to save him?"

"Mrs. Goyle had a hidden wand. It wasn't visible to the aurors when she pointed it at Percy. Percy saw it and dove to the floor of his cell. He hit his head on the bars and got banged up a little. The Elves threw Mrs. Goyle against the bars of her cell. She was nearly knocked senseless. That's what Directors Bones and Shacklebolt have been fighting about. Director Shacklebolt insisted upon questioning Mrs. Goyle immediately and Director Bones refused, saying she clearly was not in good enough physical or mental condition to be questioned. The Minister called them both to his office. He was not at all happy."

"That's, that's… just outlandish," Ron finally found a word appropriate for speaking in front of Callista. "It's like Madam Bones wants to prevent Shacklebolt from finding out who was behind the assassination attempt. I really don't think she is on our side, at all."

I think we were all too tired to argue for long. We mainly just slumped in the chairs in Harry's office. Hermione actually fell asleep, with her head on Harry's desk. I talked quietly to Ron, and occasionally Callista, when she left her post to chat with us. I said, "I don't care for Madam Bones's legal philosophy, but I'll defer judgment on her motives, unless she sends Percy back to a jail filled with Death Eaters, and possibly bad aurors. That's where the rogue French Minister was assassinated, after all. It sounds like Percy would be dead now, if Mrs. Goyle had waited until he fell asleep to launch her attack."

"That's very possible," Callista admitted, "although, the Elves were very quick in their response."

Harry rejoined us, explaining, "I'll give you the quick summary, which I know you are all eager to hear, but then I really just want to get some sleep. Percy is fine. He'll be along in a few minutes, and then we'll all go back to Hogwarts together. The Minister told Madam Bones that Percy will not be returning to jail. He also told her that the next time that she sends a sensitive prisoner to jail without alerting him will be her last action as a Director in his administration.

"He told her that he does not share Shacklebolt's conviction that she is in league with the pro-Death Eater faction of the Wizengamot, but that he is having concerns that she may have returned to work too soon. He demanded that she be examined by Dr. White, which I think may be close to the most upsetting thing he could have said to her. He also told Director Shacklebolt that he could go ahead with questioning Mrs. Goyle, as well as Mrs. Crabbe, with whom she was sharing a cell."

Percy joined us, just as Harry was finishing. He looked a bit the worse for wear, although he gave us all a brave smile. Everyone, even Callista, hugged Percy, asking if he was really all right and expressing indignation about his treatment. Percy responded to something that Ron said, which I didn't overhear, "I didn't have to battle the old Bones. Shacklebolt wouldn't let up in attacking her and Dad wasn't at all happy with her, either. She didn't even argue, when Dad told her that I was not returning to that jail."

Harry held out his arms, we formed a circle, and we were back at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, bed did not appear to be an option. We were intercepted by McGonagall and Neville as soon as we set foot inside the castle. Percy was sent to see Madam Pomphrey, but the rest of us were led to McGonagall's office.

Knowing how keen Harry was to flop into his bed, I was truly surprised how patient Harry was when McGonagall demanded a very detailed account of everything that Harry had learned at the Ministry. I read enough of Harry's thoughts to know that he was not happy with this, but nothing in his voice or attitude suggested any displeasure.

"We did learn a little more. The wand used to attack my brother was one of the wands which was stolen from Mr. Filch by his unidentified assailant earlier in the summer. All of the aurors swore that the prisoners had all been carefully searched, each by two different aurors, before being locked in their cells. Harry also reported that they had been searched in the field, before being taken back to the Ministry.

The Elves did not see the wand before it was pointed at Percy, but one of them had spent the time scanning all the other prisoners. That Elf felt that the wand must have been hidden in the sheeting of the bunk or within the pillow case. None of the aurors had approached Mrs. Goyle or Mrs. Crabbe after they had been locked into their cell.

After the attack, when Shacklebolt had announced that he would take Mrs. Goyle off for questioning, Mrs. Crabbe started a great ruckus and demanded to speak to the Minister or Director Bones. Madam Bones arrived almost immediately, saying an auror had fetched her to the jail. She listened to Mrs. Crabbe's complaint, did a quick examination of Mrs. Goyle, and told Director Shacklebolt that he most definitely would not be interviewing Mrs. Goyle that night."

Harry even maintained his calm countenance as McGonagall declared, "I think most of you are placing far too sinister an interpretation upon Madam Bones's behavior. I can tell, just by how Harry told the story, that Harry doesn't like Amelia any more than Kingsley does. I can assure you all that I've known Amelia for a very long time, and that she is as dedicated a foe of the Death Eaters as she is a defender of proper legal procedure. If she said that Mrs. Goyle was not fit to be questioned, then I'm quite sure that she was correct. Kingsley has always wanted to cut corners to get results. I had hoped that we were better than that. I am not at all pleased that the Minister packed Amelia off to be examined by Doctor Sprout, as if… she were in some way defective."

I could tell that Harry was seething, but all he said was "I've told you what I know. Now I really am going to go to bed. Tomorrow promises to be a long day and it is almost here."

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	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter Sixty-Two – What Can We Do With All These Free Elves?**

The only other bit of excitement, before our summer semi-vacation ended, was the interviewing and hiring of the Elves. Professor McGonagall said that Hogwarts had quite enough house Elves, since she wasn't expecting the return of some of the Slytherins. Hermione's frown convinced her "well, perhaps I could hire two." She delegated Neville to interview the Elves and pick two to hire.

Neville promised Hermione that he would also hire an Elf for himself, now that he was drawing a Professor's salary, reasoning "Elves are very good at getting around the world. I could assign my Elf to collect plant specimens for me."

The interviews were to be conducted at Harry's office at the Ministry and happily he agreed to allow me to participate. As we were entering Harry's ante-room, we were met by Percy, who told Harry, "Good news, the Minister accepted your proposal to hire an Elf as an additional assistant here at the Ministry. There are thirty-one adult Elves who signed up for the interviews. About half of them are very old. If I may ask, on what basis are you going to select which Elves you will hire?"

"Well, Professor McGonagall was quite lukewarm to the idea of hiring any Elves at all, but agreed to take two. Neville will need to pick two fairly young Elves, who aren't super close to retirement, and who have either good experience in a kitchen or cleaning. They'll have to carry their weight. I was planning on hiring two of the harder cases, who don't have much of a chance to find employment elsewhere, one for Grimmauld Place and the other for Hogwarts. I was hoping that Hermione and Neville would also be willing to select from among the harder cases."

"I hadn't thought of it that way, but I'd be happy to do that," Hermione assured Harry. Neville said "I'd be willing to consider that, just as long as my Elf had the talent for plant hunting, although I'd be willing to train him."

"That's great," Harry replied. "For my Ministry aide, I'm looking for an Elf who knows as much about Elven life and his fellow Elves as possible. I want someone who can advise me on future Elf legislation, such as an Elf education bill and thoughts on how Elves could start their own businesses. I realize that Elf will also have less exciting duties assisting Percy and Callista. By the way, Percy, I have no idea what the going wage rate is for Elves."

"When you asked me to set up the interviews, I checked into that. The market is still a bit unsettled, but anywhere from 5 to 30 galleons per year plus room and board. Most of the more recent numbers I've heard have been around 10 to 18 galleons, based upon experience. The Great Families are paying the house Elves that they are keeping anywhere from 10 to 20 galleons and the Elves that they've taken on from the poorer families 8 to 15 galleons."

We had a quick consensus meeting to determine what salary we would offer. "I don't want to be stingy, but I don't want to bust the market either, because that might lead to some of the Elves not finding jobs," Harry considered. "We also shouldn't pay as much for the hard-to-place Elves as the ones who come up to Hogwarts' standards or the Elf whom I hire as a Ministry aide."

Hermione, not at all sure that she liked the direction that Harry was going proposed, "I think you should give your Ministry aide 30 galleons, the Hogwarts house Elves should get 20 and the hard-to-place Elves 15 galleons, although I may pay mine more."

"I can't give my ministry aide 30 galleons," Harry replied. "Callista only gets 50 galleons, and she has to provide her own room and board. What is the Ministry going to pay its Elves, Percy, and will they continue to receive room and board?"

"They will get room and board and the Elf dorm is being improved, dividing it into separate apartments, instead of a big dorm. Elves don't eat a whole lot, so room and board isn't super expensive, if you don't count the cost of the renovations. The Ministry Elves are going to be paid 12 to 20 galleons, based upon experience. I think that is the range you should stick within".

"Alright," Hermione assented, "but I may pay a little more and I think Harry should pay on the high end of the range."

Harry chose the hardest of the hard cases as his Ministry aide, an old Elf name Cotto, who promised to work at least 5 years before retiring. Cotto had just barely escaped death when the Elf farm had been raided. He, a son and the son's wife, his son's daughter, and the daughter's four adolescent children were the last wild Elf family to be raided by RF. They had been caught in rural Wales. Of this extended family, only Cotto and two of the children remained. Cotto had been temporarily spared to care for the two children, the youngest of the family, but knew his days were numbered. Cotto said he knew the ways of the free Elves and would be happy to work for the sponsor of the Elven Rights Bill. He promised to work at least until the end of Harry's six-year term of office, for 20 galleons and the standard Ministry Elf pension. Cotto stayed to help us interview the remaining candidates, as Harry had picked him after only the sixth interview, telling the rest of us, "I don't think I'm going to find a better choice. He is very hard-to-place, but also meets my needs as someone who knows a lot about Elves."

Hermione hired an Elf widow, Marta, with two very young children, whose partner had been killed by RF when they were captured. For Hogwarts, Neville hired a former Great Family house Elf and an Elf from the St. Mungo's kitchen. For himself, he chose Catta, a middle-aged female Elf from the Elf farm, who had been a wild Elf captured by RF. She had traveled over much of the world, living off the land, and convinced Neville that she knew where to find just about any plant he might want to name. She even gave him an example, apparating him to a stand of wild mandrake and to an orchid which Neville had believed to be extinct.

Harry chose a young Elf-farm Elf named Baal as his Hogwarts Elf, and an Elf family that had been part of the St. Mungo's cleaning crew for Grimmauld place. Two adults, Jana and Thal, and two adolescents were a lot of Elves for Grimmauld place. Harry offered them 30 galleons total and said he was going to get a secret house elsewhere in the Muggle world, which they would also be responsible for.

Cotto suggested to Harry, "It might be beneficial to give some of our British Elves experience with the ways of their free cousins on the Continent. Perhaps you could arrange for some of the remaining Elves to work at Beauxbatons, the French Ministry, or Durmstrang." Harry thought that an excellent idea, and contacted Viktor and Monsieur Delacour by phone. By the end of the day, he had found positions for six more Elves. This still left us with Elves who didn't have a position, a dozen adults and their young children. Cotto had a suggestion for this problem as well.

"One of these families was living wild before being captured by the Frakes. If there is a small plot of land available, this family could train the remaining Elves to live wild and farm. I don't suppose the Ministry has some farmland they could make available?"

"I'm not at all sure of that," Harry replied. "I've just purchased some forest land from Lord Montaigne, where I was going to build a home and perhaps do a bit of farming. Perhaps a portion of that land would be suitable for the Elves."

"I'm sure it would," Cotto replied. "If you let them have the use of the land rent free for several years, while they get established, in return for clearing the land and giving you some timber for your house, they would pay you a fair rent in future years, let's say starting five years from now. I think it would be good to start a little farming community for the Elves. I think a hundred acres would allow us to create a fine Elf colony, and provide a haven for any other displaced Elves that turn up."

"That's fine with me, if they don't mind living next to a Goblin sanctuary."

"Elves get along very well with Goblins. If you can show me the forest land in question, I'll get started on the plan immediately." Harry apparated Cotto to the forest and showed him the land in question, where Harry planned to build his own house, and the limits of what he was thinking of as the future Goblin sanctuary. "This will be quite satisfactory," Cotto pronounced. "You'll have enough lumber for your house, within the month."

Dad stuck his head into Harry's office to find out how many Elves had found jobs. "I'm very pleased that you've found positions for all the Elves: the Ministry is certainly in no position to hire more, since you chopped 3231 galleons off our revenue stream.

"There is a problem, however. A lot of Wizards would like to be able to set up farmsteads away from their parents, or to get jobs. They're going to be very jealous that you're just giving away to newly freed Elves that which they can't have for themselves and their families. You're basically offering the Elves a perpetual lease on one of the few large Wizard-controlled plots of land in Britain. Do you know how many Wizards would love to have five years rent free on a perpetual lease of land, with the right to build a home on the land?"

"No, but from your tone, I'm guessing a lot," Harry replied. "I'm willing to find out. I have more land left in my original 2000 acres from Lord Montaigne as my inheritance from my great grandfather. I have no desire to run around the forest, hunting. My needs are met by a fairly modest house on, let's say a hundred acres, and at that I'm adding quite a few acres for security. Even if I increase the Goblin and Elf sanctuaries to 150 acres and hold a hundred undeveloped acres for myself, that leaves enough land to lease fifty acres each to thirty Wizard families. The land isn't great for farming, but it's better than what some Wizard families farm, and it could be used for grazing or timbering, as well. I'll take out an advert in The Quibbler and see if I get a response. We could also subdivide a portion of the Malfoy estate, but I realize that is touchy."

"Sometimes you're close to impossibly impractical, Harry. You'll be swamped with responses and that will just increase the pressure to parcel out the rest of the Malfoy estate. It has some tenants, but most is empty or occupied by sharecroppers, with rights to squat on no more than a season-to-season basis, in exchange for a share of their crops."

"We should make use of the rest of the Malfoy land, except the grounds immediate next to the house and the house itself, otherwise it will fall into disrepair and the Muggle neighbors will complain to the local authorities. I'll insert a sentence requiring that the tenants also assist with the construction of my house. And I'll hire some experienced Wizard builders – we do have some, don't we?"

"A small number, but they're not qualified to build anything elaborate - you'll need Goblins for that."

"Alright, we really don't want anything very elaborate, but I'll also hire a couple Goblins to teach the Wizards, then the Wizards can build their own homes. Who built the burrow?"

"That was built by me and other Wizards, with the assistance of one Goblin. If you don't need anything much more elaborate than that, then you should be alright."

"The Elves do not wish to take advantage or cause trouble, Minister. We will also help build Harry's home," Cotto assured the Minister.

"Well, alright, you can likely get by with a single Goblin, but take out an advert in the Daily Prophet, as well, or we'll never hear the end of it."

The last vacation chore that Harry took up was the purchase of a small house in the Muggle world. He recruited his cousin Dudley to do some quick scouting for him, saying he wanted a place in Wales or northern England. It had to be in a location that would not attract a lot of notice if Harry only dropped in a couple of times a month.

Dudley told Harry that he was buying a house in the Lake District "mainly to get away from Dad and have some peace," and that Harry could hide out there, whenever he needed to; and that if Harry bought a house close enough to the Lake District, Dudley would be willing to slip over on his motorcycle occasionally to check on things and make the house look occupied. "I am very hard to follow on my motorcycle, although possibly not for a Wizard." Harry asked if thirty miles from Dudley's house would be close enough to permit Dudley to occasionally look in on Harry's house. When Dudley said yes, Harry asked Dudley to find him a house fifteen to thirty miles from his own house. Dudley promised to do his best.

Dad was right about interest in Harry's property. He had nearly a hundred interested Wizard families respond to his adverts. Harry decided to use another 1200 acres of his recently purchased Hogwarts buffer lands. This land was not as good as the original section, so Harry divided it into sixty acre parcels. This way he was able to offer perpetual leases to fifty families. Dad showed mercy and, after conferring with the Malfoys, offered twenty sections of ten acres of quite good farm land to the Wizards who had answered the adverts. All the names were placed into the Peverell hat and seventy lucky names were drawn out of the ninety-seven families who applied. The drawing was quite a festive event and, since three quarters of those who applied for land went home happy, it was a generally happy crowd, helped along by Harry's furnishing of free refreshments. The event began with a summary of the rental rates, deed restrictions, and requirements for labor and lumber in exchange for the rent-free five years. The main restriction was that the leases could not be sold to anyone but a Witch or Wizard, and that all renters must participate in shielding the presence of magical creatures from Muggles and participating, when necessary, in defending the land. Until all of the Malfoy plots were taken, those who had their names drawn could decide which of the three types of plot they preferred. The Malfoy lands were the most popular, even though they did not come rent free for the initial period of time. In fact, only twenty-four names were drawn, before all of the Malfoy plots were taken.

Xenophilius, who had come to the event both as a reporter and because he enjoyed any sort of party or festivity, cornered Dad, Harry, and me at the end of the event. He had heard Dad comment to Harry that he hoped this wasn't a mistake that would cause further resentments. Xenophilus objected to that view in the strongest possible terms: "this is a wonderful thing that the two of you have done and a great day for the Wizarding community. I don't think there has been another day in anyone's memory when seventy Wizard families got perpetual leases to a homestead. That is the goal of all Wizard families, at least those of my age. You couldn't have done anything else that would have brought you nearly as much good will from older Wizards, who are the ones who tend to be the most suspicious of your administration. A homestead – now that is a traditional Wizarding tradition that we all can value. I know you worry about the lack of jobs for young Wizards, and you certainly should, but a homestead is a job, a place to live, and security all rolled up together. I don't see how anybody could object to this."

Not everyone shared Mr. Lovegood's views. Although the next morning's edition of The Quibbler was a full edition of celebration of the joyous event, the headlines in The Daily Prophet took a somewhat different view.

**DESPITE OUR PLEAS, MALFOY ESTATE BROKEN UP**

**POTTER ENCOURAGES HONEST WIZARD FAMILIES TO RISE ABOVE THEIR PROPER STATION**

**POTTER TAKES LESS THAN A WEEK TO DECIMATE HOGWARTS BUFFER LANDS**

**AN ELF PRESERVE? IS HE REALLY SERIOUS?**

**POTTER AND WEASLEY GOVERNMENT CONTAMINATED BY SOFT, SOCIALIST, MUGGLE WORLDVIEW OF HERMIONE GRANGER, WHO STILL THINKS LIKE A FILTHY MUDBLOOD **

That last article, penned by Malcolm Frakes, was every bit as nasty and irresponsible as the headline suggested. It traced 'most of the contagion to Wizarding values represented by this current administration to one Muggle-raised young Witch who still thinks of herself as the Mudblood she is not. That the Deputy Minister is allowed to lean so heavily upon her for advice tells you all that you need to know about Arthur Weasley and his inability to control his Deputy. From freeing the Elves, to pushing for Witches rights, to insulting the noble Frakes family, to this assault on the last bastions of Wizard aristocracy, the ugly face standing out at the front of the parade is that of Hermione Granger."

I looked over at Hermione, who was shaking, with her head down, staring at the Prophet. McGonagall must have shared my sense that Hermione was weeping uncontrollably as she joined me in rushing to Hermione's side. It turned out that Hermione was just very, very angry. "If they think that they can stop me from fighting for what I believe in, just by writing this crap about me, well, then they just don't understand me at all. This is my life's work and I shall not back down. They can have as big a war as they want." She then seemed to have a momentary fear and looked over at Harry, adding "unless of course, Harry or the Minister think of me as too much of a political albatross to continue working with me. If so, I'll just…"

"I support you totally," Harry replied. "Your war is my war – really, I think, a continuation of the Voldemort war that all of us have been fighting. We can't have rights for just some. You have a job until they throw me out of office."

Hermione gave Harry a big smile, as McGonagall added "the Prophet really has gone too far. The Minister must object in the strongest possible terms. It's stupid, besides. It's no surprise they would insult us, but they've just made implacable enemies of the seventy families that had the gall to rise above their proper station and accept homesteads. I think a lot of older Wizards will be very sympathetic to those families. Not that I believe that should ease your feelings, dear." This last comment was accompanied by a 'good doggy' pat on the top of Hermione's head and a friendly shoulder squeeze.

"That DOES make me feel better," Hermione declared. "Anything that will help The Quibbler run The Daily Prophet into the ground has my total support."

McGonagall was proven to be correct. The next morning Xenophlius pounced with the headline:

**IF THE PROPHET DOESN'T VALUE HOMESTEADS FOR HARD-WORKING WIZARD FAMILIES, THEN THEY HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING OF TRUE WIZARDING VALUES**

The whole edition was filled with letters and comments from indignant readers. The first letter was from Draco and Narcissa, explaining that they had been consulted about the establishment of the leaseholds on their estate and had given their approval. The Wizengamot and the Daily Prophet must also have received a lot of comments, because the following day, Margot Baggins, the new leader of the opposition in the Wizengamot declared "I must express my complete contempt for the views voiced by Malcolm Frakes. While Mr. Frakes is justifiably upset by the way the Deputy Minister treated his father, his words are not something of which his father would have ever approved."

Her extended remarks were printed in full in The Quibbler, while being basically ignored by the Prophet. Barnabas Cuffe did publish a short 'letter from the Editor', in which he apologized for "my hasty editing job that resulted in an unintended insult to seventy fine Wizard families being published in my paper. I plead illness, which left me insufficient time to do my job properly and perhaps a lack of awareness of how much the recent deaths in his family had put Malcolm off his game. I have urged Malcolm to take a week of paid leave to finish his grieving, so that he can return as the solid professional, whom we all know him to be."


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter Sixty-Two – What Can We Do With All These Free Elves?**

The only other bit of excitement, before our summer semi-vacation ended, was the interviewing and hiring of the Elves. Professor McGonagall said that Hogwarts had quite enough house Elves, since she wasn't expecting the return of some of the Slytherins. Hermione's frown convinced her "well, perhaps I could hire two." She delegated Neville to interview the Elves and pick two to hire.

Neville promised Hermione that he would also hire an Elf for himself, now that he was drawing a Professor's salary, reasoning "Elves are very good at getting around the world. I could assign my Elf to collect plant specimens for me."

The interviews were to be conducted at Harry's office at the Ministry and happily he agreed to allow me to participate. As we were entering Harry's ante-room, we were met by Percy, who told Harry, "Good news, the Minister accepted your proposal to hire an Elf as an additional assistant here at the Ministry. There are thirty-one adult Elves who signed up for the interviews. About half of them are very old. If I may ask, on what basis are you going to select which Elves you will hire?"

"Well, Professor McGonagall was quite lukewarm to the idea of hiring any Elves at all, but agreed to take two. Neville will need to pick two fairly young Elves, who aren't super close to retirement, and who have either good experience in a kitchen or cleaning. They'll have to carry their weight. I was planning on hiring two of the harder cases, who don't have much of a chance to find employment elsewhere, one for Grimmauld Place and the other for Hogwarts. I was hoping that Hermione and Neville would also be willing to select from among the harder cases."

"I hadn't thought of it that way, but I'd be happy to do that," Hermione assured Harry. Neville said "I'd be willing to consider that, just as long as my Elf had the talent for plant hunting, although I'd be willing to train him."

"That's great," Harry replied. "For my Ministry aide, I'm looking for an Elf who knows as much about Elven life and his fellow Elves as possible. I want someone who can advise me on future Elf legislation, such as an Elf education bill and thoughts on how Elves could start their own businesses. I realize that Elf will also have less exciting duties assisting Percy and Callista. By the way, Percy, I have no idea what the going wage rate is for Elves."

"When you asked me to set up the interviews, I checked into that. The market is still a bit unsettled, but anywhere from 5 to 30 galleons per year plus room and board. Most of the more recent numbers I've heard have been around 10 to 18 galleons, based upon experience. The Great Families are paying the house Elves that they are keeping anywhere from 10 to 20 galleons and the Elves that they've taken on from the poorer families 8 to 15 galleons."

We had a quick consensus meeting to determine what salary we would offer. "I don't want to be stingy, but I don't want to bust the market either, because that might lead to some of the Elves not finding jobs," Harry considered. "We also shouldn't pay as much for the hard-to-place Elves as the ones who come up to Hogwarts' standards or the Elf whom I hire as a Ministry aide."

Hermione, not at all sure that she liked the direction that Harry was going proposed, "I think you should give your Ministry aide 30 galleons, the Hogwarts house Elves should get 20 and the hard-to-place Elves 15 galleons, although I may pay mine more."

"I can't give my ministry aide 30 galleons," Harry replied. "Callista only gets 50 galleons, and she has to provide her own room and board. What is the Ministry going to pay its Elves, Percy, and will they continue to receive room and board?"

"They will get room and board and the Elf dorm is being improved, dividing it into separate apartments, instead of a big dorm. Elves don't eat a whole lot, so room and board isn't super expensive, if you don't count the cost of the renovations. The Ministry Elves are going to be paid 12 to 20 galleons, based upon experience. I think that is the range you should stick within".

"Alright," Hermione assented, "but I may pay a little more and I think Harry should pay on the high end of the range."

Harry chose the hardest of the hard cases as his Ministry aide, an old Elf name Cotto, who promised to work at least 5 years before retiring. Cotto had just barely escaped death when the Elf farm had been raided. He, a son and the son's wife, his son's daughter, and the daughter's four adolescent children were the last wild Elf family to be raided by RF. They had been caught in rural Wales. Of this extended family, only Cotto and two of the children remained. Cotto had been temporarily spared to care for the two children, the youngest of the family, but knew his days were numbered. Cotto said he knew the ways of the free Elves and would be happy to work for the sponsor of the Elven Rights Bill. He promised to work at least until the end of Harry's six-year term of office, for 20 galleons and the standard Ministry Elf pension. Cotto stayed to help us interview the remaining candidates, as Harry had picked him after only the sixth interview, telling the rest of us, "I don't think I'm going to find a better choice. He is very hard-to-place, but also meets my needs as someone who knows a lot about Elves."

Hermione hired an Elf widow, Marta, with two very young children, whose partner had been killed by RF when they were captured. For Hogwarts, Neville hired a former Great Family house Elf and an Elf from the St. Mungo's kitchen. For himself, he chose Catta, a middle-aged female Elf from the Elf farm, who had been a wild Elf captured by RF. She had traveled over much of the world, living off the land, and convinced Neville that she knew where to find just about any plant he might want to name. She even gave him an example, apparating him to a stand of wild mandrake and to an orchid which Neville had believed to be extinct.

Harry chose a young Elf-farm Elf named Baal as his Hogwarts Elf, and an Elf family that had been part of the St. Mungo's cleaning crew for Grimmauld place. Two adults, Jana and Thal, and two adolescents were a lot of Elves for Grimmauld place. Harry offered them 30 galleons total and said he was going to get a secret house elsewhere in the Muggle world, which they would also be responsible for.

Cotto suggested to Harry, "It might be beneficial to give some of our British Elves experience with the ways of their free cousins on the Continent. Perhaps you could arrange for some of the remaining Elves to work at Beauxbatons, the French Ministry, or Durmstrang." Harry thought that an excellent idea, and contacted Viktor and Monsieur Delacour by phone. By the end of the day, he had found positions for six more Elves. This still left us with Elves who didn't have a position, a dozen adults and their young children. Cotto had a suggestion for this problem as well.

"One of these families was living wild before being captured by the Frakes. If there is a small plot of land available, this family could train the remaining Elves to live wild and farm. I don't suppose the Ministry has some farmland they could make available?"

"I'm not at all sure of that," Harry replied. "I've just purchased some forest land from Lord Montaigne, where I was going to build a home and perhaps do a bit of farming. Perhaps a portion of that land would be suitable for the Elves."

"I'm sure it would," Cotto replied. "If you let them have the use of the land rent free for several years, while they get established, in return for clearing the land and giving you some timber for your house, they would pay you a fair rent in future years, let's say starting five years from now. I think it would be good to start a little farming community for the Elves. I think a hundred acres would allow us to create a fine Elf colony, and provide a haven for any other displaced Elves that turn up."

"That's fine with me, if they don't mind living next to a Goblin sanctuary."

"Elves get along very well with Goblins. If you can show me the forest land in question, I'll get started on the plan immediately." Harry apparated Cotto to the forest and showed him the land in question, where Harry planned to build his own house, and the limits of what he was thinking of as the future Goblin sanctuary. "This will be quite satisfactory," Cotto pronounced. "You'll have enough lumber for your house, within the month."

Dad stuck his head into Harry's office to find out how many Elves had found jobs. "I'm very pleased that you've found positions for all the Elves: the Ministry is certainly in no position to hire more, since you chopped 3231 galleons off our revenue stream.

"There is a problem, however. A lot of Wizards would like to be able to set up farmsteads away from their parents, or to get jobs. They're going to be very jealous that you're just giving away to newly freed Elves that which they can't have for themselves and their families. You're basically offering the Elves a perpetual lease on one of the few large Wizard-controlled plots of land in Britain. Do you know how many Wizards would love to have five years rent free on a perpetual lease of land, with the right to build a home on the land?"

"No, but from your tone, I'm guessing a lot," Harry replied. "I'm willing to find out. I have more land left in my original 2000 acres from Lord Montaigne as my inheritance from my great grandfather. I have no desire to run around the forest, hunting. My needs are met by a fairly modest house on, let's say a hundred acres, and at that I'm adding quite a few acres for security. Even if I increase the Goblin and Elf sanctuaries to 150 acres and hold a hundred undeveloped acres for myself, that leaves enough land to lease fifty acres each to thirty Wizard families. The land isn't great for farming, but it's better than what some Wizard families farm, and it could be used for grazing or timbering, as well. I'll take out an advert in The Quibbler and see if I get a response. We could also subdivide a portion of the Malfoy estate, but I realize that is touchy."

"Sometimes you're close to impossibly impractical, Harry. You'll be swamped with responses and that will just increase the pressure to parcel out the rest of the Malfoy estate. It has some tenants, but most is empty or occupied by sharecroppers, with rights to squat on no more than a season-to-season basis, in exchange for a share of their crops."

"We should make use of the rest of the Malfoy land, except the grounds immediate next to the house and the house itself, otherwise it will fall into disrepair and the Muggle neighbors will complain to the local authorities. I'll insert a sentence requiring that the tenants also assist with the construction of my house. And I'll hire some experienced Wizard builders – we do have some, don't we?"

"A small number, but they're not qualified to build anything elaborate - you'll need Goblins for that."

"Alright, we really don't want anything very elaborate, but I'll also hire a couple Goblins to teach the Wizards, then the Wizards can build their own homes. Who built the burrow?"

"That was built by me and other Wizards, with the assistance of one Goblin. If you don't need anything much more elaborate than that, then you should be alright."

"The Elves do not wish to take advantage or cause trouble, Minister. We will also help build Harry's home," Cotto assured the Minister.

"Well, alright, you can likely get by with a single Goblin, but take out an advert in the Daily Prophet, as well, or we'll never hear the end of it."

The last vacation chore that Harry took up was the purchase of a small house in the Muggle world. He recruited his cousin Dudley to do some quick scouting for him, saying he wanted a place in Wales or northern England. It had to be in a location that would not attract a lot of notice if Harry only dropped in a couple of times a month.

Dudley told Harry that he was buying a house in the Lake District "mainly to get away from Dad and have some peace," and that Harry could hide out there, whenever he needed to; and that if Harry bought a house close enough to the Lake District, Dudley would be willing to slip over on his motorcycle occasionally to check on things and make the house look occupied. "I am very hard to follow on my motorcycle, although possibly not for a Wizard." Harry asked if thirty miles from Dudley's house would be close enough to permit Dudley to occasionally look in on Harry's house. When Dudley said yes, Harry asked Dudley to find him a house fifteen to thirty miles from his own house. Dudley promised to do his best.

Dad was right about interest in Harry's property. He had nearly a hundred interested Wizard families respond to his adverts. Harry decided to use another 1200 acres of his recently purchased Hogwarts buffer lands. This land was not as good as the original section, so Harry divided it into sixty acre parcels. This way he was able to offer perpetual leases to fifty families. Dad showed mercy and, after conferring with the Malfoys, offered twenty sections of ten acres of quite good farm land to the Wizards who had answered the adverts. All the names were placed into the Peverell hat and seventy lucky names were drawn out of the ninety-seven families who applied. The drawing was quite a festive event and, since three quarters of those who applied for land went home happy, it was a generally happy crowd, helped along by Harry's furnishing of free refreshments. The event began with a summary of the rental rates, deed restrictions, and requirements for labor and lumber in exchange for the rent-free five years. The main restriction was that the leases could not be sold to anyone but a Witch or Wizard, and that all renters must participate in shielding the presence of magical creatures from Muggles and participating, when necessary, in defending the land. Until all of the Malfoy plots were taken, those who had their names drawn could decide which of the three types of plot they preferred. The Malfoy lands were the most popular, even though they did not come rent free for the initial period of time. In fact, only twenty-four names were drawn, before all of the Malfoy plots were taken.

Xenophilius, who had come to the event both as a reporter and because he enjoyed any sort of party or festivity, cornered Dad, Harry, and me at the end of the event. He had heard Dad comment to Harry that he hoped this wasn't a mistake that would cause further resentments. Xenophilus objected to that view in the strongest possible terms: "this is a wonderful thing that the two of you have done and a great day for the Wizarding community. I don't think there has been another day in anyone's memory when seventy Wizard families got perpetual leases to a homestead. That is the goal of all Wizard families, at least those of my age. You couldn't have done anything else that would have brought you nearly as much good will from older Wizards, who are the ones who tend to be the most suspicious of your administration. A homestead – now that is a traditional Wizarding tradition that we all can value. I know you worry about the lack of jobs for young Wizards, and you certainly should, but a homestead is a job, a place to live, and security all rolled up together. I don't see how anybody could object to this."

Not everyone shared Mr. Lovegood's views. Although the next morning's edition of The Quibbler was a full edition of celebration of the joyous event, the headlines in The Daily Prophet took a somewhat different view.

**DESPITE OUR PLEAS, MALFOY ESTATE BROKEN UP**

**POTTER ENCOURAGES HONEST WIZARD FAMILIES TO RISE ABOVE THEIR PROPER STATION**

**POTTER TAKES LESS THAN A WEEK TO DECIMATE HOGWARTS BUFFER LANDS**

**AN ELF PRESERVE? IS HE REALLY SERIOUS?**

**POTTER AND WEASLEY GOVERNMENT CONTAMINATED BY SOFT, SOCIALIST, MUGGLE WORLDVIEW OF HERMIONE GRANGER, WHO STILL THINKS LIKE A FILTHY MUDBLOOD **

That last article, penned by Malcolm Frakes, was every bit as nasty and irresponsible as the headline suggested. It traced 'most of the contagion to Wizarding values represented by this current administration to one Muggle-raised young Witch who still thinks of herself as the Mudblood she is not. That the Deputy Minister is allowed to lean so heavily upon her for advice tells you all that you need to know about Arthur Weasley and his inability to control his Deputy. From freeing the Elves, to pushing for Witches rights, to insulting the noble Frakes family, to this assault on the last bastions of Wizard aristocracy, the ugly face standing out at the front of the parade is that of Hermione Granger."

I looked over at Hermione, who was shaking, with her head down, staring at the Prophet. McGonagall must have shared my sense that Hermione was weeping uncontrollably as she joined me in rushing to Hermione's side. It turned out that Hermione was just very, very angry. "If they think that they can stop me from fighting for what I believe in, just by writing this crap about me, well, then they just don't understand me at all. This is my life's work and I shall not back down. They can have as big a war as they want." She then seemed to have a momentary fear and looked over at Harry, adding "unless of course, Harry or the Minister think of me as too much of a political albatross to continue working with me. If so, I'll just…"

"I support you totally," Harry replied. "Your war is my war – really, I think, a continuation of the Voldemort war that all of us have been fighting. We can't have rights for just some. You have a job until they throw me out of office."

Hermione gave Harry a big smile, as McGonagall added "the Prophet really has gone too far. The Minister must object in the strongest possible terms. It's stupid, besides. It's no surprise they would insult us, but they've just made implacable enemies of the seventy families that had the gall to rise above their proper station and accept homesteads. I think a lot of older Wizards will be very sympathetic to those families. Not that I believe that should ease your feelings, dear." This last comment was accompanied by a 'good doggy' pat on the top of Hermione's head and a friendly shoulder squeeze.

"That DOES make me feel better," Hermione declared. "Anything that will help The Quibbler run The Daily Prophet into the ground has my total support."

McGonagall was proven to be correct. The next morning Xenophlius pounced with the headline:

**IF THE PROPHET DOESN'T VALUE HOMESTEADS FOR HARD-WORKING WIZARD FAMILIES, THEN THEY HAVE NO UNDERSTANDING OF TRUE WIZARDING VALUES**

The whole edition was filled with letters and comments from indignant readers. The first letter was from Draco and Narcissa, explaining that they had been consulted about the establishment of the leaseholds on their estate and had given their approval. The Wizengamot and the Daily Prophet must also have received a lot of comments, because the following day, Margot Baggins, the new leader of the opposition in the Wizengamot declared "I must express my complete contempt for the views voiced by Malcolm Frakes. While Mr. Frakes is justifiably upset by the way the Deputy Minister treated his father, his words are not something of which his father would have ever approved."

Her extended remarks were printed in full in The Quibbler, while being basically ignored by the Prophet. Barnabas Cuffe did publish a short 'letter from the Editor', in which he apologized for "my hasty editing job that resulted in an unintended insult to seventy fine Wizard families being published in my paper. I plead illness, which left me insufficient time to do my job properly and perhaps a lack of awareness of how much the recent deaths in his family had put Malcolm off his game. I have urged Malcolm to take a week of paid leave to finish his grieving, so that he can return as the solid professional, whom we all know him to be."


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter Sixty-Three – Riding the Hogwarts Express**

I got to know Cotto reasonably well in the two days before the start of the new term. His ability to apparate into Hogwarts, and what turned out to be a truly excellent memory, made him a natural liaison between the Hogwarts and Ministry staffs. Whereas Percy thought Cotto would fetch his coffee and doughnuts, which he happily did, Cotto also attended all of Harry's staff meetings at both locations. He also took it upon his own initiative to train Baal, Jana, and Thal for Harry, and even to see to the education of their Elven young. I thought Jana and Thal might take this as an insult, but the one time I saw them together, they were taking it in stride. Apparently, they didn't know much of anything about cooking and cleaning and Cotto had picked up a great deal of domestic skills for a wild Elf.

Cotto occasioned some conflict with Hermione, when he also got to know the kitchen Elves and even inserted himself into the negotiations with McGonagall. Cotto got his fingers into a lot of pies in three days. Hermione had advised the lead house Elf that Hogwarts Elves should hold out for 18 to 25 galleons, based upon experience. Professor McGonagall said that this was too much. Hermione started to talk about the possibility of an Elf strike and mentioned it at one of Harry's Hogwarts staff meetings. Cotto volunteered that 18 to 25 galleons was definitely too much. Hermione just gave a 'harrumph' and ignored him for the remainder of the meeting, but after the meeting Cotto went down to the kitchen to talk to the Elves. The night before we were all supposed to ride the Hogwarts Express, Hermione came back to the common room in as blind a fury as I had ever observed.

"HARRY POTTER!"

Harry came running, thinking McGonagall had slipped into our common room, but was confronted by a red-faced Hermione, with hands on both hips. As soon as she spotted Harry coming down the stairs from the boys' dorm, she launched into a tirade. "It's your right to invite Cotto to whatever meetings you want him to attend. It most definitely is not alright for Cotto to interfere in the labor negotiations between the house Elves and Hogwarts. Do you know what he's been doing? I didn't think you did. He's been talking to the kitchen Elves. He had the audacity to tell them that I was demanding too much money from the school. He convinced all of the Elves to reduce the wage scale I was asking for by 5 galleons. I tried to convince the head Elf, you probably don't even know that his name is Tor, but I've been working with him for hours and hours and I thought that we really trusted each other and that he totally agreed with what we were demanding from Hogwarts. But now Cotto talks to him and all he will say to me is 'if Cotto says it is too much money, then it is too much money.' I talked to other kitchen Elves and they all said things like 'I will do what Cotto asks me to do.' Can you believe it? What does he know about labor negotiations or the value of household labor? Do you know what Witches are paid to work in similar positions and how much harder the Elves work? I didn't think so. I told the kitchen Elves that they didn't need to do what the famous Harry Potter wanted them to do. Tor just said he wasn't doing what Harry Potter wanted, he was doing what Cotto wanted him to do and that the Elves had decided to accept McGonagall's last offer. I said I was sure I could get a little more, without a strike, if they were afraid of going out on strike. He just said 'Cotto says we don't need any more than what McGonagall has offered.' So what I want to know, Harry, is WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS? We both know that the kitchen Elves only listen to Cotto, because they know he's your Elf. By making him your Ministry aide, you've given him too much power, and it's gone to his little head."

Harry said "If I didn't know you better, I'd think that last statement showed a lot of anti-Elf prejudice. I don't think there is anything that I can do," and went back up to his dorm room, leaving Hermione standing there, with her hands still on her hips. All of us, even Ron, made ourselves scarce and left her in the common room by herself. A few minutes later, Harry relented and came down the stairs. "If you're willing to talk about this in a calm voice instead of just yelling at me, I'll summon Cotto and he can explain his thinking to you. Why don't you go get Tor and the six of us can sit down and discuss this. We can include McGonagall or not, as you prefer."

"I'll get Tor, I don't want to include Professor McGonagall." Harry phoned Percy, and Hermione headed off for the kitchens. We agreed to assemble in Harry's office "so we don't have another big scene that the Slytherins can laugh about," Harry whispered to Hermione.

A few minutes later we were all seated in close quarters in Harry's office. Harry was about to lay the groundwork for the meeting, but Hermione beat him to it, just saying "WELL?"

Cotto quickly answered her "Cotto not want to offend Miss Hermione, but Hogwarts Elves are good Elves, not selfish Elves. They want to do what is best for all Elves and our future. Harry Potter and Miss Hermione try very hard to find jobs for all Elves. Some must go to Continent for now. Jobs are hard to find and Wizard families distrust Elves. If Hogwarts Elves go on strike, many house Elves lose their jobs.

"Time to fight for more wages is after all Elves safe in jobs and Wizards sure they want Elves in their homes. Also, after Elves start own businesses. If cleaning up after Wizard children pays too good, Elves not risk starting business and always be behind Wizards. Hogwarts Elves can save galleons for future and start businesses. Tor and I not want them to work here always. That is for young Elves and Elves of little ability. Minister is angry about how well Harry Potter and Hermione treat Elves. Land for Elves is good thing, but trouble is very bad. Headmaster McGonagall offer good deal. She also hire two Elves she don't need. Elves always be grateful to Miss Hermione for help in becoming free, but now not time for money battle."

Hermione was calmer, but not completely satisfied. She looked to Tor, whose only reply was "Hogwarts Elves are happy with McGonagall offer. We know how Elves treated outside Hogwarts and we want to stay at Hogwarts. Tor happy to have Miss Hermione as advisor for now and for always, but this is Elves' decision and we accept offer. It is best for all of Elves."

Hermione was amazingly calm as she spoke. "I'm glad my help was appreciated and I see that there is nothing that I can say to change your minds. I think you could easily get two more galleons, but if you're happy, I'm happy."

Tor assured her that he was very happy. Still, Hermione did not speak to Harry for the rest of the evening or during breakfast. It was two days until she spoke to Harry. In the morning, out of Harry's hearing, I asked Hermione why she was still so angry.

She replied, "because your Dad has used Harry and Cotto to scuttle a very reasonable negotiation strategy. You can put a pretty face on it, but that's union busting, pure and simple."

When I reminded her that the Elves were pleased with their new contract, she just spat out "please!" and walked away. It promised to be a wonderful train ride.

Whether we had come from meetings at the Ministry, research in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library, or the transaction of one final sale on Diagon Alley, each of us seemed pleased to be standing in the brisk morning breeze, amidst the smells of burning coal and rust-laced steam on platform 9-3/4. We were grouped together, in the center of the platform, chatting amiably as we remained alert for any Death Eaters who might want to cause more chaos amongst the throng of arriving students and their parents. At least all of us, with the exception of Hermione, were chatting amiably. She was standing a little apart, but was at least chatting with Professor Sprout, who had been delegated by McGonagall to greet the newbies. 

Ron was with us and seemed a little perplexed by Hermione's coolness to him. "I didn't support Harry or McGonagall, or even Dad, at all," my brother declared, as if this represented good behavior on his part. "I even agreed with her that Cotto definitely overstepped. You'd think I took Harry's side, by the way she's been treating me."

I put my arm around Ron, reassuring him "she'll get over it. She knows you did nothing disloyal to her. You might speed the reconciliation by not standing with Harry and me." My brother moved away as if he had just realized that I was contagious.

Harry was making a special point to search out and assist the bewildered looking Muggle parents of first years, as they navigated the platform for the first time, while steeling themselves to hand over their young to an alien world which they couldn't possibly comprehend. Harry had arranged for a squad of aurors to patrol the Muggle side of the platform, and in addition to guarding against Death Eater bombers they were efficiently funneling the first timers to our side of the platform. Harry had also brought all of his Elves with us. All but the elderly Cotto were loading baggage. Cotto organized the baggage and instructed the younger Elves. I suddenly realized that the likely unexpected prominence of Cotto on the loading platform might well be the cause of Hermione's smoldering anger.

Since Ron had abandoned me, I rejoined Harry. Margaret Wright saw Harry, just as I saw Margaret. She pulled her parents straight toward Harry and seemed a bit chagrined to find both me and Cissy standing elbow to elbow with Harry. "Hi Margaret", Harry called out to her. "You know Ginny, of course. I'd like you to meet Cissy Montaigne. She'll be a third year this term and is a new Gryffindor. I thought the two of you would likely get along well."

"I recognize her, but barely know her, since she was a Slytherin. They sat together in classes, although Cissy didn't seem to be bonded with that crowd."

"I most definitely wasn't," Cissy quickly agreed.

Hermione had brought her Mom to the station with her. She and Hermione were now standing together, and Professor Sprout had gone off to help a bewildered second year. Why a second year should be so bewildered, I don't know, but, then, she was a Hufflepuff.

I overheard Mrs. Granger telling her daughter, "I really don't know how many years I'll be spending at Hogwarts. I remember how much you talked about riding the Hogwarts Express and the excitement in your eyes, the first time you saw the train, and climbed its steps, and then you waved to your father and me from the window as the train was pulling away from the platform. I just didn't want to miss that experience."

Harry's attention was drawn toward a very young Witch crying and arguing with her parents about thirty feet down the platform. He headed toward them to see if he could help and I followed him.

As we drew near, I could hear the girl sobbing to her mother "I don't know how Henry will get along without me, or I without him. This is the first time we've been separated for more than a few hours. I always assumed he'd be coming to Hogwarts with me. I don't understand how I could develop magical abilities and Henry couldn't. We're twins. We should be doing this together. You think I don't want to go to Hogwarts because I'm afraid of the Death Eaters. You just can't know how alone I feel, unless you grew up with a twin. I'll be having new experiences and meeting new people, but Henry is just going to have you and the old school, where he spent over half his time with me. It's not fair. I want to stay home and go to school with Henry."

The girl was short, as I suppose all first years are, and more than a little dumpy. She had short brown hair, arranged in the stiff spikes so popular with Muggle girls, and piercing pure blue eyes. Her round face was quite attractive. She stared at Harry, not fixating on his scar, but seeming to search for some sort of assistance.

Having arrived at the scene, it was painfully obvious that Harry had no idea how to help. I stepped in saying, "we don't mean to intrude on a family discussion, but the headmaster assigned us to greet the new students and their parents and to assure you that some of us older students will be looking after you when you get to Hogwarts. I know it must be worse leaving a twin at home, but we all are very homesick when we go off for Hogwarts, all except Harry, he hated living with his aunt and uncle."

This caused the father to exclaim, "You're Harry Potter, aren't you?"

Harry admitted to his identity and repeated my assurances that we would help the little girl, who was quickly introduced to us as Alice Spencer, and see her safely settled into Hogwarts. Alice's mother instructed her to be brave and her father carried her bags onto the train, where George took the bags and led Alice to a compartment.

"She'll be fine," Harry reassuringly told Alice's mother. "It makes it easier if you send her lots of owls the first few weeks, so she knows you're thinking of her. Cookies also help. In Alice's special case, it would probably help a lot to hear that her twin brother is getting along alright."

"It is just a terrible shame that her brother is a Squib. We spent the past year hoping that he would show signs of magical talent, but he just hasn't. We had counted on the two of them beginning Hogwarts together."

"Some children develop magical skills at an older age, although some never do," Harry told her. He explained how we were teaching Mr. Filch to ride a broom and perform simple magic.

"I remember Mr. Filch," Alice's mother gasped. "If he can learn some magic, there is still hope for our Henry. We don't care if he isn't a great Hogwarts student or how well he can ride a broom. He just has to BE a Hogwarts student. Both Alice and Henry REALLY need that."

After herding the last of the students onto the train and reassuring their parents that they would be safe and do just fine at Hogwarts this term, we headed onto the train. We had decided to space ourselves along the train in pairs, so that we could cover half a dozen cars. Harry dispatched Baal and Thal to the roof of the train, to spot for any Wizards attacking on brooms. As we walked the length of the train, I couldn't help noticing that there were empty compartments. The student turnout was actually quite good, except that the majority of the Slytherins appeared not to be returning for the term. As we reached the last car from the end of the train, I was pleased to see that Margaret and Cissy had taken Harry's suggestion and were sitting together. There was another very young looking girl, whom I recognized as Alice, whose parents Harry had last reassured on the platform. She seemed to be getting along with Cissy and Margaret. I suggested to Harry that we join them.

"Are you going to ride with us?" Margaret smiled.

"Most of the time. We also have to patrol the train, from time to time."

The Hogwarts Express pulled away from the station and slowly built up speed as Cissy was commiserating with Alice about how terrible it must be to lose a twin. "The strange thing is, in my own case, I've just lost my father and brother – my mother died when I was born, yet I feel unbothered by the loss. I may still be emotionally numbed, but frankly, I think I feel liberated. All my life, it seemed that the totality of my father's affection and concern was focused upon my brother, Bruce. Even when Bruce groped me the day before I set off for Hogwarts, my father's only concern was that I might complain to the headmaster and press charges against Bruce, once I got safely away from home. He always said that Bruce was my blood and it was my duty to help Dad protect him, no matter what Bruce did to me or to other people.

"My brother paid the Death Eaters and Giants to carry out attacks on the Wizard school in France, in which over thirty students died, some girls my age or younger. Father still supported him and was willing to cause the destruction of all magical creatures out of spite, just because Bruce would have to go to prison. I'm glad they are jailed together. Now, father will have to learn what Bruce is really like, instead of pretending he has a mild problem that will go away. I am angry, because I led myself to believe father had finally decided to sidetrack Bruce and trust me to take over duties as Lady Montaigne, but just as I was training for that role, he decided to blow everything up, before I had a chance to prove worthy. I thought the deal that father was making with Harry and the others, to keep the situation in suspension while I was at Hogwarts, was a way of preserving my opportunities, in case I grew into a far saner adult than Bruce. The night before father tried to set off the bomb under Hogwarts, he was angry and raging and he made it very clear to me that this wasn't the case at all.

"It was all a ruse to buy Bruce more time to turn his life around. He thought in five years time, Bruce might be healthy again and agree to pursue a retrial on the basis that he was temporarily insane previously, get his sentence commuted, and just carry on with the life that father always wanted for him. It became clear that if Bruce couldn't be the Lord, that father would just as soon do away with the whole thing and, failing that, let Harry have the job, with me as the surviving member of a totally discredited family.

"It appears I was only good enough to help him with his bookkeeping. My great sin in life has been my unwillingness to passively accept his plan that I just be somebody's wife and a mother. He accused me of liking girls, rather than boys, even though he knew that I had a year-long crush on Harry. All that talk of it being alright with him if I never married or chose my own husband, was just spinning Harry along and following through on his dislike of Lucius Malfoy. I was not going to be Draco's wife, but father still thought he could pick a husband for me.

"That's why I had to get out of Slytherin. That is the whole worldview of Slytherin girls. I want a significant, substantial life for myself. I want to find out how much I am capable of. Even in the obviously diminished state that Bruce is in, father still demands a substantial life for him. Why not me? I know that I should miss my family, and by Christmas break I may want to see them again, but for now, I'm just happy to get away from it all and back to Hogwarts. My note from Dumbledore and being around Harry, Ginny, and their friends has shown me the way. I don't want to be a good little Slytherin girl."

"I think you're very brave," Alice told her. "I'm also determined to make something substantial of my life. I have to succeed in this Wizard world for both Henry and me. I am going to instruct Henry in magic during school breaks. I'm sure he'll be able to join me here, within a year. It will just be strange having him as a first year, when I'll be a second year."

{{Wow, Harry! Cissy sure has a lot of pent up emotion to unload on an anonymous First Year. Still, Margaret and Alice seem to be excited to be let in on the whole tale. Actually that's the first time I've heard that much of the story. Certainly not a happy ending. Do you think Alice is going to be okay?}}

{[amused] I guess so. I think a lot of First Years are as upset as she is, we just tend to forget how it felt. I was a little scared of what to expect but very happy to be leaving the Dursley's. I figured it couldn't be worse than what I had. It's different for Alice. She was happy and comfortable with her twin. She has to come to Hogwarts, though. She's just the sort of very upset and emotional young Witch who can cause a lot of trouble and attract Muggle attention if she isn't taught to control her magic. I should know, I was just such a young Wizard.}

"I'm glad you haven't assumed all hope of a Wizarding life for Henry is lost," Harry reassured her. "I don't want to establish false hopes, and I wouldn't have said what I just said six months ago, but I've seen supposed Squibs develop magical talent later in life. You'll meet Mr. Filch this evening. When I first came to Hogwarts seven years ago, Mr. Filch had no magical ability, whatsoever. I trust he'll show you some tricks. My best friend Hermione's mother spent her whole life, up until this summer, living as a Squib in the non-magical world. She now can do as much magic as most students starting their second year. So, there is some hope. I think you're right to use what you learn at Hogwarts to try to nudge along Henry's abilities. Just don't do any curses, which could get you in trouble with the Office of Magical Law Enforcement."

"I think Slytherin attitudes are changing," I told Cissy. "Draco isn't following his father's life plan for him either."

"It's more than that," Cissy responded. "Look around the train. I only saw three of last year's Slytherins get on the Express. They all were first or second years from last year and they all were almost as unpopular as me. Two of them were even interested in being good students. None of the Slytherin boys from last year are returning. I saw several, who were among the nicer Slytherin boys, standing on the platform with their parents. It was as if they looked around, decided there were too few returning Slytherins, and just didn't board the train. Maybe they'll return after Christmas break, if they decide the atmosphere will be more hospitable for them. As for Draco – he's still with Pansy Parkinson. That tells you all you need to know about his supposedly modern world view. You don't get more traditional Slytherin than Pansy."

"Cissy says that you are all Gryffindors. I hope that I become a Gryffindor, also," Alice wished.

Harry looked like he suddenly realized that he might have overlooked his train marshal responsibilities. "I think we should check on the three returning Slytherins and see how they are doing. I wouldn't recognize them, so I'd appreciate it if Cissy would help me find them."

Cissy, Harry, and I left the compartment and searched the train for the Slytherins. We had covered about half the compartments, greeting Ron and a still definitely chilly Hermione along the way as they patrolled the corridor, before Cissy spotted the Slytherins. The three Slytherins were sharing a compartment with Neville. Harry ducked his head into their compartment, announcing "I've brought you a common room friend from last term." They all turned to look and to say Hi to Cissy. Cissy took the hint and settled into the compartment. We finished our loop of the train, stopping to say hello to George and Luna, who were sharing a compartment with three first years.

At the front of the train, we encountered Bill and Barb. Bill insisted that Barb was returning with us to our compartment, while he was going forward to the engine to make sure no problems lurked ahead of the train. He reminded us that he and we had cell phones and to alert him at the first sign of anything that even hinted of danger. He promised to do the same.

On the way back to our compartment, Harry encountered a very small first-year boy coming out of the restroom, who claimed not to have a compartment. Harry quizzed him on the location of his luggage, learning that it was in the rack in the compartment next to ours, but that the boy had been evicted from the compartment by older students. Harry suggested that the boy come sit with us. As we approached our compartment, Harry diverted into the neighboring cubicle to give a nasty look to its occupants and to retrieve the luggage in question.

I rejoined Alice and Margaret in our compartment. A few minutes later, Harry came in carrying two large luggage bags and leading the boy, as he announced to Alice in a tone that seemed to suggest that all of her problems were close to being solved "I've found you a fellow first-year student, Alice, meet Roger Wood. Yes, Ginny, he's the youngest brother of our old friend Wood."

I supposed it possible that he could grow into a reasonable facsimile of our old friend, given five or six years. Roger lacked his brother Oliver's height, or his impressive musculature. He did have the same blondish brown hair and friendly blue eyes. The biggest missing piece, other than the several years of growing, was any hint of Oliver Wood's self-confidence. It would be giving Roger undue credit for bravery to label him as merely timid. I settled back to watch how timid Roger would get along with the rather bold Alice and the older, but less assertive, Margaret. They struck up a pleasant discussion, with the two first-years quizzing Margaret concerning the veracity of the good, bad, and simply absurd rumors and snatched factoids that they had gleaned about Hogwarts from older friends and siblings, and as it turned out, simply reading about the exploits of our circle in the Wizard papers.

It quickly became clear that Wood had dumped all manner of piffle into his brother's head, mostly about the exaggeratedly scary things that he was about to encounter. After an hour and a half ride in which Roger was punctiliously polite, indeed virtually servile, to Harry, despite Harry's exaggerated bonhomie and splurging on treats from the snack cart, which he shared with the children, carefully explaining each item as he passed it around, I realized that Wood had told his brother that he should never, ever cross Harry. All who did so met a very unpleasant death.

Roger confessed that Oliver had told him "you know what he did to Voldemort, now just imagine what he'll do to an impertinent first-year who gets underfoot. His friend Ron has less use for clingy first-years than he does."

After Harry spent several minutes explaining that we all intended to do our best to look out for the new students, until they learned the ins and outs of Hogwarts, Roger became a little more willing to speak and to look directly at Harry as he spoke."

That responsibility successfully discharged, Harry indicated that it was time for another patrol of the train. We left the compartment, picking up Barb, who had been politely, but uncomfortably, standing in the corridor. We went all the way to the rear of the train, Harry opening the rear door and leaning out to observe the scenery, in a way that had Barb grabbling hold of the wrist of the hand anchoring him to the train. We then reversed course and headed all the way to the front of the train.

We passed Ron and Hermione at the midpoint of the train. Ron and Hermione were now sitting with some seventh years and Mrs. Granger was standing at the entrance of their compartment. Hermione's voice cut through the rat-a-tat sound of the train wheels. "You wanted to experience what it was like for me to ride the Hogwarts Express when I first went to school. Well, you're a first year and first years don't sit with seventh years. You need to go find a compartment with first or second year students that has an empty seat."

As Mrs. Granger turned away in disappointed bewilderment, Harry told her "second compartment from the end of the train in the direction we're coming from. We've collected some very pleasant first years and a third year. You're welcome to take our seats. We have to patrol the rest of the train."

As Mrs. Granger hurried along the corridor to the compartment, which Harry had specified, Harry cast a critical glance toward Hermione. Hermione just gave a determined look right back at him.

"I told her that Ron and I were on duty and wouldn't be able to spend time with her, but she simply insisted upon coming. Well…. I guess she was getting on my nerves. She really can't get the true sense of the experience riding with seventh years who she already knows. The whole point is being thrown together with kids you've never met before and finding out about them. That, and being bullied by the seventh year students."

"She's forty-seven years old, Hermione," Harry chastened her. "This has to be a little awkward for her. Who's going to bully her? Well, apart from you. They probably think she's a Ministry auror. I'll check back later and see how she's making out with the first years. Margaret will be with her, at least."

As we left to continue our patrol, the look on Hermione's face was saying "you can check up on her if you wish, but I'm staying well away from her here with Ron." Hermione relented and gave voice to those thoughts. "I've been a helpful monitor for three hours, I just need some time to collapse with Ron and some fellow upper years. If you still have energy, please patrol. I'll be up again in another half hour." This was not said unkindly, but it was impossible to miss the continuing tension between Hermione and Harry. Ron determinedly looked out the window the whole time Harry and Hermione were exchanging words. My brother can be such a coward.

We reached the front of the train, but found neither any trouble, nor any sign of Bill. Harry checked in the engine compartment and learned that Bill had decided to fly ahead on his broom, scouting for any signs of trouble on the track ahead. Bill took his auror job extremely seriously. We were about to return to our compartment to check on Mrs. Granger, when Harry's cell phone rang. Harry listened a little, then said okay, and then told the engineer that he needed to stop the train. We had been practicing enough that I had no need to touch his shoulder, the message came through loud and clear.

{[worry] Bill says there's a rockslide on the track about three quarters of a mile ahead. He suspects an ambush. He's phoned Director Shacklebolt for reinforcements and is flying back to the train now.}

Barb, who had been on alert as soon as the phone rang, was now on hyper alert. She moved us back toward the middle of the train. As we moved along the train, we alerted the students to get their wands out and to prepare for a fight. We hustled the first years to the middle of the train and surrounded them with a barricade of luggage. We lowered all of the window shades, so that any attackers could not get a good shot at us. Barb told us to guard the doors and windows and that she would go up on the roof of the train to spot for any attackers. Bill returned and said that he did not see anyone in the vicinity of the rock fall, but that he did not trustingly accept coincidences and that he couldn't discount a bomb. He said the train had stopped a half mile from the obstruction, which was behind and obstructed by a rocky outcropping.

Forgetting her earlier annoyance, Hermione dragged Ron away as she went in search of her Mom, who had yet to huddle with the other first years. They returned with Mrs. Granger a few minutes later, Hermione leading her to the center of the luggage barricades and giving curt instructions, which sounded remarkably like "sit, stay". Cotto had appeared and was entertaining the first years with his Elfin magical tricks.

It somehow felt less safe to be sitting in a stopped train than when we were blindly rattling through the countryside. I realized that, apart from the time the Dementors had searched the train, I had never felt other than completely safe when aboard the Express. Now that we were stopped, images of a bomb blowing out the center of the trestle bridge that we were due to cross in about half an hour made uninvited trips across my mind. I could tell that our practice was really paying off when Harry, who was standing almost four feet away, sent a return message.

{[concerned but not frightened] I've considered the possibility of being attacked as we crossed that bridge. That actually makes me feel better about the landslide ahead. I don't see a particular advantage in attacking us here. I guess it's just dumb luck that Bill decided to scout ahead, or we might have wrecked and derailed on the rockslide by now. Sitting half a mile away just doesn't seem all that dangerous…..I know, Bill and Barb are certainly taking it very seriously. You can bet that we won't be allowed to cross the bridge until a team of aurors has inspected it. The landslide will be cleared under a full guard detail of aurors. I'm guessing they'll bring some Goblin engineers with them.}

At this time, Harry and I were seated on the floor of the corridor on opposite sides of the first of three sets of steps that led onto and off the train. Hermione and Ron and Neville and Luna were covering the other stairs, while George and Percy were at the front of the train with the engineer. The rear emergency door that Harry had hung out of was being guarded by half a dozen somewhat frightened sixth and seventh years.

Harry's phone rang and I 'heard' the message as Harry did {[alertness] who is it? Oh, hello Bill. Kingsley? Fine, we'll meet him at the door [a little embarrassed at how relieved he feels].}

"Ginny, it's…"

"I know, I heard".

Shacklebolt climbed aboard the train, quickly explaining that he had added three more aurors to the roof of the train, while half a dozen aurors were up the track guarding a crew of six Goblins, who were clearing and checking the track. We settled down for a longer wait. About half an hour later, I thought I heard a muffled bang from the area of the rock fall. By the way he jumped, I knew Shacklebolt had also heard it. About a half hour after that, one of the aurors returned from the rock fall to inform Director Shacklebolt that the track was cleared and that the rock fall had concealed a trip-wire bomb that had almost killed the members of the work crew. Fortunately an auror had found the bomb in time and apparated it to a safe location well away from the track, apparating back just before the bomb went off. Shacklebolt instructed him that he wanted the engineers and aurors to check out the track ahead of the train, especially the trestle bridge that we would have to cross. "I know we checked it earlier today, but check it again." The auror departed and a few minutes later the Hogwarts Express began to inch forward.

"I'm a little surprised that the Death Eaters have the resources for an attack like this, just a week after losing six of their members in Diagon Alley. I expected them to go back into hiding for a while. If any of them are lingering near the tracks, my aurors will find them."

We were moving a little faster and soon passed the area of the rock fall trap. The Express did not pick up any additional speed, as it had to move slowly enough not to pass the aurors who were checking the track. The aurors were only worried about bombs; if a band of attackers wished to apparate together atop the Express, the aurors could only deal with them after they arrived. We at least had the advantage of being in motion. Only when we were stopped by the rock fall would an attacker have known the exact position of the train… unless, of course, they had a spotter in the area.

Shacklebolt was having similar thoughts, as he commented "I want to maintain a steady, but not too steady, pace as we approach the trestle. I'm not about to stop at the trestle and give any attackers a fixed target. I've matched our speed to the time I think my aurors will need to fully inspect the bridge."

Harry suggested that we move back to the barricaded first years, so that we could personally reassure them that all would be well. When we arrived, Harry saw that Hermione, her Mom, Ron and Cotto were doing an excellent job in the reassurance department, so we headed toward the front of the train, checking in with students as we went and explaining the procedure for the bridge crossing. Harry led me all the way to the engine, where Barb was instructing the engineer on the appropriate speed. Barb seemed locked into a highly efficient, intense concentration mode, so Harry stopped talking to her, and we just watched the ground to the sides of the engine. Any successful attack on the train would likely involve taking over the engine, so we wanted to make sure no Death Eaters were approaching from the sides, while the train was crawling along and Barb and the engineer were focused upon the track ahead.

Harry grabbed my shoulder and directed my gaze to his side of the track. {[alertness] somebody's flying towards us on a broom. I'll see if Barb recognizes him.}

Harry tapped Barb's hand and directed her toward the incoming rider.

"He's one of ours," Barb assured Harry. "Likely bringing a message from the bridge."

The flyer landed, perched on the edge of the engine, leaning in he told Barb "We've cleared the bridge, build speed as fast as you can, until you're across. The aurors have switched to checking the track beyond bridge for bombs and obstructions."

As Barb signaled the engineer, he accelerated the train at full throttle and we seemed to leap ahead, building more and more speed until, within just a few minutes, I saw the trestle bridge approaching us. Barb instructed the engineer to clear the bridge and then to slow down again as we reached the other side. We charged across the bridge and then the train began to brake gently. I could tell by the way Barb refocused as we reached the other edge of the bridge, that she hadn't expected an attack while we were on the bridge. We'd either fall with a bombed out bridge into the river below, or we would not. Slowing at the other side was a predictable action and this is where Barb seemed to think a Death Eater attack was most likely. After we had traveled a half mile, she relaxed slightly.

There was no further excitement for the remainder of the trip, but we traveled slowly enough that we were several hours late reaching Hogwarts. I saw that Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, the two aurors assigned to Hogwarts, and Professor Trelawney were guarding the track as we arrived. It had been a very stressful journey, especially for the aurors, whose ability to check the track ahead of the train became close to nil as night fell. Shacklebolt had finally decided to return most of the aurors to the train and increase our speed, with just two aurors doing their best to scout ahead for very obvious obstructions. I doubt that they could have spotted anything less clear than another rock fall.

Looking at the faces around me, I could tell that everyone was at least as relieved as I was to be off the Express and back on firm ground in front of Hogwarts. We had such a concentration of wands that the Death Eaters would certainly not be foolish enough to attack us now. Still, Professor McGonagall was definitely rushing us through the gate and into the safe cocoon of the Hogwarts magical defenses. The first years would miss the treat of approaching Hogwarts by boat - that experience would be saved for their luggage. For now, the first years were hustled as fast as their little legs could transport them, up the path to the gate, carrying nothing but their wands. Older students took their brooms with them and flew sedately through the gate and up to the castle. We were all assembled in the Great Hall in record time, with Professor McGonagall saving her remarks for breakfast, ordering the Sorting Hat to dispense with its poem, and even allowing us to eat during the sorting ritual.

McGonagall did make the brief announcement during the sorting ceremony, that "due to technical difficulties beyond my control, Slytherin House will be closed, at least until the Christmas break. Students sorted into Slytherin, as well as current Slytherins, will room in one of the other three Houses. Professor Sprout will be the advisor to the Slytherins, regardless of where they are rooming. They will still be required to follow the direction of the Prefects and House Advisor of the House in which they are residing. Bear with me, it's late so this seems more complicated than it really is."

The sorting seemed to move faster than normal, possibly because I was distracted by shoveling food into my empty belly. I didn't follow too many of the names or the houses to which they had been assigned. I know that both Alice Spencer and Roger Wood were assigned to Gryffindor, because they came and sat directly across from me. I also know that the three returning Slytherin girls were assigned to our house. There were two second years, Hannah Zabini and Marsha Mason, and one third year, Matilda Bulstrode. With Draco and Pansy, that gave us five Slytherins, which I suppose Professor McGonagall thought was enough, since she did not assign any others to us. Gabrielle Delacour was introduced as an exchange student, and was sorted into Ravenclaw. Pavel was the Durmstrang exchange student and he was assigned to Hufflepuff.

Seated among the professors, whom Professor McGonagall said she would introduce at breakfast, were a fussy-looking Durmstrang professor, whose name I didn't remember, but whom I remembered taught magical engineering. He looked a little uncomfortable and kept fidgeting in his chair. It may have just been my imagination but he seemed to constantly lean his body toward Mom and away from another new professor - a tall, young, Witch with long blonde hair, whom I assumed must be the artist and Hufflepuff graduate, who was going to instruct us in drawing. She was younger than I expected, probably not even ten years older than me. Despite her youth, she seemed perfectly at home sitting at the staff table on the dais. She sat perfectly upright and her motions were very graceful as she chatted easily with Professor Trelawney, who was seated to the other side of her. I had noticed her attempt to engage the German exchange professor in conversation, but he rebuffed her twice. She now seemed to be taking the view that he didn't exist.

Hermione's father was seated between Mom and Neville. I was surprised to see Narcissa seated next to Professor McGonagall at the professors' table. Before I knew it, we were dismissed and ordered to go right to bed. My stomach was full, but I had no memory of what we had eaten. I didn't even notice that I had wandered off course from the line of Gryffindors, until I was brought to a sudden halt three feet in front of Professor McGonagall.

I quickly realized that I had blindly followed Harry, who had been drawn aside for a quick chat. I excused myself and headed back into line but not before hearing the question: "What exactly happened. I've heard rumors of a bomb?" and Harry's reply, "It was an amateurish attack. A trip-wire bomb was hidden beneath a rock fall that blocked the rail. If an auror hadn't been scouting the track ahead, it could have been serious, but they would have done far better to bomb the trestle bridge."

I waited for Harry in the common room, sitting in an arm chair in front of the fire, half dozing with a throng of young students chattering around me. I must have drifted asleep, because the room was silent when I raised my head in response to Harry's hand upon my arm. Looking around, I saw that Ron, Neville, Luna, and George had also waited for Harry to return. I stirred to almost full awareness just as there was a knock on our common room door and Neville admitted Director Shacklebolt.

"I was going to trot in here right after the Deputy Minister," he told us "but I was caught by your Headmistress, who thought she knew how to do my job better than I do. She blamed me for not preventing the bombing, and for frightening her first years, and messing up the start of term banquet, which she had carefully planned. She wanted to know how I could creep the train along during the middle part of the journey, knowing that this would force a longer final leg in darkness, when she felt it ever so obvious that the peril would be increased. I told her that I happened to know that my aurors had cleared the likely attack points, including the bridge and the mountain approaches to Hogwarts, before you ever left platform 9-3/4 and that I had aurors watching those sections of track almost continuously. A half dozen of them staked out in moving positions along the final leg.

"I asked her whose aurors she thought had spotted the rock fall in time to save the train and whether she thought British Rail just happened along in time to clear the track. We had that Goblin team on call for just such a need. I asked her how many times she guessed my aurors had practiced responding to an attack on the train and how many aurors had over-flown the track during the past week. The woman just gave me a harrumph and trotted off to bed.

"I must say I am very surprised that you were attacked where you were, but Bill followed his orders to perfection. On the list of most vulnerable spots along your journey, where an attack would have the best chance of success, I'd say that one came in around number twelve. Either the Death Eaters are stupider than I would expect, and Thicknesse certainly is not stupid, or they were assuming that we had protected against all of the obvious attacks. I'll repeat to you what I told Bill and Barb and the two Hogwarts aurors – you need to be on guard for attacks that seem less than well plotted. You should still be wary of a tactically and strategically brilliant assault, but Thicknesse seems to be attacking where and when he thinks we least expect it and may present a soft spot. So just don't try to be overly smart. Bill and Barb are outside. I'll send them in as I leave".

"Okay," Harry replied, "and thank you for your help on the train. I'll make a point of telling Professor McGonagall how efficiently all the aurors performed."

"Thank you Harry," Shacklebolt replied, "but I think your headmistress is beyond placating. Hopefully she wakes in a happier mood."

"I'll tell you this," Neville confided, "I am not looking forward to tomorrow's staff meeting, with the mood that the Headmaster is in tonight. I think you should also expect a very long breakfast, tomorrow. Just please help me keep the younger students in line. This was her first start of term banquet as Headmaster and she had carefully chosen new faculty and some changes in curriculum that she wanted to introduce to the students. She practiced her talk repeatedly and prepared for every contingency, except for the train being three hours late. This had to be the first banquet ever when the Sorting Hat wasn't allowed to recite its poem and was repeatedly ordered to 'just move it along'. I've never seen her like this before. I think she actually frightened Shacklebolt".

**Original text**

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	64. Chapter 64

**Chapter Sixty-Three – The Start of a New Term**

We got to breakfast quite early, having assembled the first and second years in the common room and marched them single file to our table, armed with dire warnings of what would happen if they put one little finger out of line on this particular morning. Harry and I had two second years placed strategically between us, as did Ron and Hermione, and Luna and George. As instructed, they sat in silence, staring expectantly at the faculty table, which was also strangely quiet. The Elves had brought us only orange juice, and Professor McGonagall's gaze said we would not have anything more substantial, until she was finished speaking. Rising, she fixed us all with her gaze and intoned, "I have quite a few things to say to you, before you enjoy your breakfast."

I noticed looking around the tables that there were three upper level Slytherin girls present. I had missed them last night and on the train. They seemed to reside in Ravenclaw. Poor Ravenclaws! My survey of the tables did confirm my major conclusion from yesterday. There were no Slytherin Wizards of any age at Hogwarts. Apparently the school was too dangerous for them, and the Slytherin Witches would just have to fend for themselves. It was something of a compliment that the Slytherin parents didn't believe we'd take retribution for the Carrows by murdering their daughters.

"To all of the first years, welcome to Hogwarts! To our returning students, welcome back! To all of you, there are going to be some changes this year.

"First, I have new faculty to introduce. Professor Adrienne Celine will be the first art professor at Hogwarts since that program unfortunately was abolished in 1612. All first through fourth year students will study drawing or painting this term. Professor Celine, who is a graduate of Hufflepuff, is that rare Witch who is a successful artist in the Muggle world." At this comment, Professor Celine graced us with a truly beautiful and serene smile. Professor McGonagall continued "she is also an old friend of mine. Another change this term is that students will have access to the Hogwarts art museum, a collection of student art, which has been sealed since 1612.

"I'd also like to introduce Professor Harold Granger, who will be your professor of Muggle technology. As you may have guessed, he is the father of Hogwarts student Hermione Granger. He was a medical professional and ardent tinkerer in many of the Muggle technologies. All students will attend the Muggle technology course.

"Next, I'd like to introduce Professor Neville Longbottom, who is your professor of herbology. As I'm sure you are all aware, Professor Longbottom graduated from Hogwarts last term and was not only a leader of the student revolt against the Carrows last term, but also a hero of the Battle of Hogwarts, who killed Voldemort's snake, Nagini". There was an outbreak of applause, which didn't seem to overly perturb our Headmaster. When the applause ended and a little discussion started at our table, Harry and all of us shushed the younger students. "I should tell you that Professor Sprout is moving to the position of potions professor.

"Your Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor will be another hero of the Battle of Hogwarts, Mrs. Molly Weasley, who outdueled Bellatrix Lestrange. Again, you've probably guessed that Mrs. Weasley is the mother of seventh year student Ginny Weasley.

"Your final new professor is an exchange professor from Durmstrang in Germany. Professor Heinrich Henkel has taught magical engineering at Durmstrang for the past fifteen years. He will teach magical engineering here. This is a subject that has been sorely missed at Hogwarts, leaving Wizards dependent upon Goblins for vital tasks which we should be performing ourselves. This is a very demanding subject, so it will be open only to fifth, sixth, and seventh years. Professor Henkel has kindly agreed to also teach this course next year, so that those students who are now third and fourth years will be able to learn the subject next year. I think those students who excel at magical engineering will find that they have excellent job prospects upon graduation.

"Narcissa Malfoy is a guest at Hogwarts, but she also will be teaching arithmancy, a subject she excelled at as a Hogwarts student and in which she has maintained a lifelong interest. I should also tell you that our own Professor Slughorn has agreed to be an exchange professor at Durmstrang, where he will be teaching potions.

"I don't want to leave the subject of exchanges with our sister schools without mentioning that we have two exchange students with us this year. Gabrielle Delacour comes to us from Beauxbatons in France. Some students may remember Gabrielle from her visit here during the Triwizard Tournament. She will be living in Ravenclaw House. We also welcome Pavel Hegel from Durmstrang. Pavel will be living in Hufflepuff House. If you are wondering what has become of your old pals Thomas Creevey and Amanda Persing, I am happy to tell you that they are spending the term as exchange students at Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. They will be back with us next year." This also brought a round of applause, which quickly ended under the glare of our Headmaster.

"You may have already noticed that Mr. Filch has been studying magic over the summer and will be patrolling the corridors on his broom. I should mention that we have some special students with us. Mrs. Granger, whose magical powers have just recently been discovered, is with us as the oldest first year in Hogwarts history. Pardon me; I guess she has learned enough in her studies this summer that she is more like a second year. She will, however, be rooming with the Gryffindor first years for the first month of this term. Like her husband, she was a medical professional in the Muggle world.

"Many of the heroes of the Battle of Hogwarts who missed their seventh year due to the fight against Voldemort have returned to finish their educations. I'm referring to Deputy Minister Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, George Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Because of his Ministry duties, Deputy Minister Potter will have an office here at Hogwarts and has two aurors with him. I think you met Bill and Barb on your harrowing train ride to Hogwarts. I'm also pleased to announce that Bill will be doing double duty as Professor Bill Baggins, who will teach apparation to the sixth and seventh years, regardless of age. In also something of a Hogwarts first, Mr. Potter has also brought his personal Elf, Baal, to Hogwarts. Baal will sleep in Mr. Potter's office and will attend some classes with Harry. Please consider him to be just another of our exchange students.

We have two other special students. Draco Malfoy will be returning to complete his seventh year. Pansy Parkinson is an even more unusual student, having graduated several months ago. She… and all of you still have so much to learn. I wonder if we shouldn't have a voluntary eighth year added at Hogwarts. That would permit me to more easily cram all the necessary new subjects into your busy schedules and perhaps ease the burden on the Ministry of providing as much training as they do."

There was another loud round of applause, which we tried and mostly succeeded in quieting at the Gryffindor table. I noticed a bevy of owls that had come in through the open windows and were now futilely fluttering and pecking against some magical barrier that the Headmaster must have erected to prevent interruptions to her talk.

"You all arrived so late last night that I felt the need to dispense with some of the traditional start of term traditions. One of these traditions was the annual poem from our Sorting Hat. This is a tradition that our students look forward to, so I'm going to give the Sorting Hat a chance to tell you what he had planned to say." The Headmaster picked up the Sorting Hat from behind her chair and walked over to the lone stool, which had stood in front of the staff table during her remarks.

The peak of the hat straightened up a little, wiggled, and then the slit moved as it spoke. "It's just not the same. The poem has to be a part of the sorting. Bleeech!"

All of the tables burst into raucous laughter. Ours was a little less raucous and quieted much faster as we all spread our arms and made shushing motions to the younger students. The first and second years immediately lapsed into frightened silence, but the sixth and seventh years proved very difficult to tame, especially as the Sorting Hat hopped off the chair, landing upside down, somehow expelling the Sword of Gryffindor from itself and brandishing it menacingly, with a few quick cross swipes, which drove the Headmaster back behind the staff table. As quickly as the show had begun, it ended with the inanimate sword clattering to the stone floor. Even with all of us glaring at them, the first and second years uttered pronounced gasps and exclamations like 'cool' and 'hyper Wizardy', before breaking into guffaws. There was no shushing Peeves, who unfortunately took the opportunity to buzz the staff table and the Headmaster, while making rude sounds. Professor McGonagall drew her wand and fired some curse, which caused Peeves to be hurled away and bounced off the ceiling, from where he whooshed into the main corridor with his sing-song chant "that didn't hurt me," reverberating in his absence. There was a brief few seconds of stunned silence and then more raucous laughter.

After a few long minutes, semi-silence returned and a red faced Headmaster rose to announce, "I think it time to serve the remainder of your breakfast, so that you can get to class on time. I remind you that our kitchen Elves are all free Elves, who have kindly chosen to pursue their careers at Hogwarts. I trust that you will treat them as the professionals that they are. Finally, as always, the forest is off limits to all students, there will be no magic in the corridors, and Slytherin House is strictly off limits to students and staff. I should stress that unauthorized entry into the forest or Slytherin house could well result in your death." That brought an intake of breath at each of the three student tables. Dumbledore had never issued quite so dire a warning at start of term.

As the Headmaster sat down, we were greeted by the simultaneous arrival of the owls, a broad selection of hearty and appetizing breakfast selections, and eight-inch square cardboard cards, which turned out to contain our individual schedules for the Fall term. As I tore into breakfast, Harry paused to announce that first years would be escorted to their after-breakfast class. He inquired where they were to be and was told "Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall."

Harry promised to lead them there, personally. I compared schedules with Harry and saw that we both had "Muggle Technology, Professor Granger" listed for an hour after breakfast.

We finished eating and gathered up our first years. We guided them in a nice straight line to the door of Professor McGonagall's classroom door, where we unfortunately were greeted by the Headmaster herself, who curtly said "if you would settle the class, Miss Granger – a brief word Mister Potter." Before I could even voice agreement, she was guiding Harry about ten paces down the corridor.

I strode to the head of the class and cleared my throat in an attempt to quiet the class. That didn't work, so I cupped my hands to my mouth and shouted "shut it!" That brought enough silence for me to continue, "Professor McGonagall has a few brief Headmaster duties to attend to and then she will be right back to begin your lesson. I can assure you from painful experience that Professor McGonagall really dislikes a noisy classroom, so considering that she seems to be in a really bad mood, I'd be very quiet, if I were you. Um, where to begin? Well, if any of you have been sufficiently good students to do some reading ahead in your Transfiguration text, you would know that transfiguration involves magically changing an object or even a living thing into something else. It is very tricky and you should not be too hard on yourselves if it takes you almost until Christmas to learn even simple transfigurations. I hope I'm not too nervous to give you a little example.

"Let's see, I'll take Professor McGonagall's desk and with a lot of focused concentration and the appropriate spell and the wave of my wand and… " 'Pfft', I was pleased to see that the desk had turned into a most impressive walnut chest of drawers, "we have an entirely different object. Now, I can also use transfiguration to return the desk to its original…"

"I see you've been entertaining my class, Miss Granger, but didn't I have my desk at the front of the classroom?"

I quickly composed myself, flicked my wand, and was incredibly relieved to see the desk reappear. I was in such a hurry to escape that Professor McGonagall's "Thank you, Miss Weasley" was spoken to my back. The only thing on my mind was to escape and find Harry. I didn't even reply to the professor.

I was temporarily frazzled and seeking the comfort of Harry's arms. I knew he would be waiting for me in the corridor, right outside the classroom, except he wasn't. The ubiquitous Bill also was nowhere in sight. Thinking Harry must have returned to the common room without me, I carried my bad mood with me through the corridors back to the fat lady. I did have to crack a smile along the way as I saw Mr. Filch sedately toodling along the corridor toward me on his broom. It was not that Mr. Filch looked at all silly on the broom, but rather the appearance of Mrs. Norris, sitting upright and straddling the leading edge of the broomstick, like a silly grimacing figure on the prow of an old sailing ship. Mr. Filch waved his cap to me, gaily commenting as he passed me, "Hello, Ginny! I'm just rounding up any stray first years who got lost on their way to class."

Back in the common room, I was greeted by Ron and Hermione, neither of whom had seen Harry since we left with the first years, but speculated that Professor McGonagall must have sent him and Bill off on some sort of errand. There may even have been a summons from Dad to come to the Ministry. I reconciled myself to just waiting for Harry to reappear, since I was not about to ask Professor McGonagall where she had sent him. I still was feeling down, so I unreeled my full tale of woe to Ron and Hermione.

Ron helpfully commented, "Well, she certainly didn't ask you to transfigure her desk," but relented and offered a brotherly hug to cheer me up. I initially spurned his offer, but then let him hug me, which did help a little, until he asked "you were able to change it back alright, weren't you? Don't worry, when I was upset two years ago, bossing around the first years helped some. If you're Headmaster, you get to relieve your stress by kicking a seventh year or two. I'm sure she meant nothing more personal than I did when I frightened the first-years."

The three of us compared schedules, and I learned that Ron and Hermione would be joining us for Muggle Technology and that we then all had Magical Engineering right before lunch, followed by Divination with Professor Firenze right after lunch and finishing up the day with Advanced Astronomical Observations, again with Professor Firenze, at 9:00 P.M. When Harry hadn't returned, I accompanied the others to Hermione's father's first lecture. Hermione was bubbling with excitement to see what sort of material her father had prepared for us. Although she had peppered him with questions every time we were all together for a meal, he consistently responded that it was a surprise and she would just have to be surprised along with everyone else.

"As we entered his classroom, which was a fairly large room set off by an archway from his shop, I got my first surprise. The room was decorated with brightly colored Muggle Christmas lights and on a platform at the front of the room, a Muggle electric railroad train was running along a track amidst an elaborate little village. Houses in the village were lit by little lights. As we moved to our seats, Mr. Granger pressed a button, causing the train's whistle to sound and a very impressive cloud of grey smoke to emerge from its engine. I had hoped to find Harry already in a seat, but since he wasn't, I joined the others in the front row of seats, as the rest of the class began to filter into the seats behind us. Hermione whispered to me "this was my train set, when I was a little girl, although Dad always played with it more than I did. It's also become a lot more elaborate since last I saw it."

Hermione's Dad told us that the train and the lights all ran on a Muggle invention called 'electricity' and that electricity came in two forms: alternating current, such as that produced by his portable generator and used to run the electric motor that powered the train, and direct current, such as came from his collection of batteries, and could power the lights in his little village or the light of a flashlight. He passed around the flashlight for us to play with and a collection of batteries of various sizes. As we rose to follow him into his shop for a look at the generator, I was cheered to spot Harry standing up from his seat in the back row. I dawdled on my way to the shop and Harry nudged forward, so that we ended standing side by side in the shop.

{{[still too much worry] Where were you. I had a bad time with McGonagall}}

{[soothing] I'm sorry to hear that. Professor McGonagall is not in the best of moods today. She sent me to London with Professor Celine, to buy additional art supplies. The Professor explained to me that she is accomplished in two forms of art. She had expected to be asked to teach only the first art form, what she calls 'Witch art'. She explained that this is an artistic form of advanced transfiguration. Converting transfiguration to an art form is what brought her to Professor McGonagall's attention and forged a long friendship and collaboration. As Professor Celine explained it, just as we can transfigure our brooms into a big floppy straw hat, she can form an elaborate and fully detailed vision of a bronze sculpture in her mind and then simply create that statue by transfiguring a pile of metal. It wasn't until this morning that the headmaster informed her that the younger students didn't possess that level of transfiguration skill and in any case would have to develop their imaginations in smaller steps.

{She wanted Professor Celine at least to start by teaching what she calls Muggle art: drawing, perspective, oil painting and perhaps sculpting with chisels, knives and other tools. It turned out we had no supplies for that sort of art class. So Professor McGonagall asked me to take Adrienne, that's Professor Celine, on a shopping trip. It took a while, because we visited several stores. I was the apparator and guide, but it turned out that I was also expected to pay for the supplies. Adrienne said that she realized how full our schedules must be, but suggested that we might want to stop by her after-classes art club, where she would also teach upper year students and hoped to dabble in Witch Art instruction. As for what Professor McGonagall said, she mainly wanted reassurance that her opening remarks weren't 'awful'. She thanked us for quieting our table. I gave her the receipt for my purchases, but she just said 'I don't think so, Mr. Potter' and handed it back to me. I like to think I'm a charitable guy and I really don't care about the money I inherited, but I would prefer to pick my own charities. I'm glad that I haven't paid my Hogwarts tuition yet. I hope your parents haven't paid. I'm planning on just attaching a note to this receipt and handing it to the appropriate clerk at the Ministry…I think we should focus on what Hermione's father is saying.}

I'm sure the rest of the class was very useful, but I was mainly dwelling on what Harry had said. And how did Professor Celine so quickly become Adrienne to Harry?

Professor Henkel's classroom was fronted by a table laden with shiny brass and crystal objects, of the sort we had seen in the Goblin caverns and had always associated with either Goblin technology or Muggle bombs. He assured us, however, that these devices were all of his own design and manufacture, and were absolutely essential to the ancient profession of magical engineering. He assured us that by the end of the year, each of us would be able to see, manipulate, and anchor magical force lines and that we could also use these skills to detect and disarm various guard or alarm charms. There was something about his motions, and the way that he said what he said, that made it suddenly very clear to me that Professor McGonagall had coached him on the need to loosen up his rigid Germanic pedagogical technique a bit, to be more successful at Hogwarts.

It mainly made him seem painfully awkward and self-conscious. Still, it was an interesting class. He used a large six-inch diameter polished convex clear crystal mounted in a brass rim, with a convenient brass handle, to show us how the magical force lines could be visualized. Using a number of charmed objects, he demonstrated how one could determine the strength of the magical force associated with an object, by measuring the brightness, width, and how closely packed the lines of magical force appeared through the crystal. He led the class to a small cupboard in the corner of the classroom and, thrusting the crystal device into Hermione's hands, brusquely asked her what she was able to observe.

Hermione was caught a little off guard, but seemed determined to rise to the challenge. She was not in her accustomed advantaged position, since the magical engineering texts were not sold in Diagon Alley and had yet to arrive at Hogwarts, which precluded her customary practice of reading a hundred pages ahead of the rest of us. She at least had the benefit of the Goblin King's tutelage and our experience with the Flamel Device to guide her. Our adventure in Edinburgh had to be fresh in her mind.

Hermione had an extremely earnest look on her face as she bent over and peered through the crystal as she examined the entire front of the cupboard. I heard a snicker and turned to see Pansy as she quickly placed her hand over her mouth and reddened as Herr Professor Henkel gave her a look that no Hogwarts professor had deployed in recent memory. He was Snape, only much more so. I wasn't expecting a lot of future frivolity in his classroom.

Hermione straightened up and announced "There is a charm on this cabinet. It's anchored an inch to the outside of the latch and extends across the whole face of the cabinet. Since I got within a few inches of the latch, I'm assuming it is a tamper charm, rather than an alarm charm."

"That's excellent, Miss Granger, I believe. I think I'm supposed to say 'one point for Gryffindor.' Tell me, how would you disarm this charm?"

"I think I have to drag the anchor point to the inside of the latch, so that it won't be disturbed when the door is opened. I don't know how to do that, however."

"Well, its fine that you know as much as you do. I think that's another point for Gryffindor. I think I'm supposed to turn them in to the Headmaster at the end of the day. In any event, this is what you must do to disarm the charm…." He walked back to the table and retrieved another brass device, with crystals centered in opposite faces. "You hold the flux clamp by the silver handle on its top, thusly…" he demonstrated to the class, "then you align the center of the crystal with the anchor point of the charm, but a few inches away…" He demonstrated this procedure for us. "Then, you must concentrate fiercely upon the anchor point. The near crystal will generate a thin beam of light, which should be centered on the anchor point. Maintaining your focus, you slowly move the device and your eye, in perfect unison, thusly…" He did exactly what he had described, moving ever so slowly, before removing his eye from the device and standing upright again. "When you break your concentration and look away, the flux clamp releases its hold on the force lines and they re-anchor at the nearest spot on a substantial object.

"For those of you who are Muggle-born, err, am I allowed to use that term?, this is the same concept as what the Muggles call drag-and-drop when done on a computer. Look through the viewing crystal, Miss Granger, you will see that the latch has been freed of the charm. The charm is in a harmless position and will naturally decay away over a period of weeks or months."

Hermione boldly stepped forward for a look and announced that the charm had indeed been disarmed. She passed around the viewing crystal, so the rest of us could see for ourselves. I observed that the force lines were indeed anchored inside of the latch and the force lines looked bulged out and buckled. After the last of my classmates had taken the opportunity to peer through the crystal, Herr Professor announced that we had accomplished enough for our first lesson and that he would see us again in three days, by which time our texts should surely have arrived.

I was so happily chatting and eating my tuna salad lunch that I failed to notice Professor McGonagall had walked up behind me. "I hope I wasn't snappish with you earlier this morning, Miss Weasley. It was very kind of you to loan me Harry and to keep my class's attention."

I could only mumble "not a problem", before Professor McGonagall continued, "Now if you would return the papers that I had in the top drawer of my desk, I'll call us even."

I could feel my face blanch and was groping for a response when Professor McGonagall chuckled "gotcha" and ambled away. The others broke into laughter, but I was unable to finish my tuna salad. My mind was transported back to that awkward time in early summer, when the Headmaster couldn't decide whether or not I was a child or her battlefield chum, roughing it in the field as we chased the baddies together. In fairness, she had not had the best start of term that she had planned and getting dissed by a torn hat, or even worse, by the disembodied spirit of Igor Peverell, had to deflate her dignity in front of her students.

"It seemed to make her feel better to beat up on a seventh year and send the Deputy Minister off on a shopping trip," Ron remarked. "I understand. When I was fighting with Hermione, I was tough on the first years, and although I know that was a pretty awful thing to do, I'm embarrassed to admit that it never failed to make me feel better."

"Given the mood she was in and the problems she's had with Ministry interference and the assorted guests I've brought here, I thought the best thing to do was to just go shopping," Harry replied. "I owe her at least that much. I also got the impression that she wanted me to meet Professor Celine. Perhaps we should take her up on her offer to attend her after-classes art club.

"Anyway, I think we should all do everything we can to help both Professor McGonagall and Professor Celine to get this term off to a good start. After all, Professor McGonagall's implementing the changes that we put in our platform, and some of the students and their parents are bound to give her grief for that. Professor Celine's course is a direct repudiation of the changes that the Montaignes made to the original Hogwarts approach.

"If I've learned anything from my time at the Ministry, it's that even very worthwhile changes are guaranteed to meet a lot of resistance, because people are resistant to any change, even if you're trying to change the things that almost everyone agrees are bad. A second thing I've learned from Shacklebolt, and I think part of Professor McGonagall's problem is that she realizes this also, is that terrorism attacks don't have to work to be successful. Sometimes the failed attacks are more effective. If the Hogwarts Express had come onto the rock slide and crashed before it could completely come to a stop and then the bomb had gone off, what would have happened? The engine would have been destroyed and a couple of the passenger cars would have been damaged, the engineer certainly would have died, possibly a half dozen students at worst would have significant injuries. None of that happened - the attack was a bungled failure. But now all the parents will imagine the absolute worst thing that almost happened. In every parent's mind, his child was killed. The physical damage was limited to us arriving three hours late, but the imagined damage in everyone's mind is unbounded. The community will be more frightened by this failed attack than they would have been had the attack worked.

"Shacklebolt thinks Thicknesse realizes this, and also realizes that although the fear is increased, the blame and hatred flowing toward the Death Eaters is much less, because nothing bad really happened. Same thing with the Diagon Alley attack. In one sense it was laughable and they lost six of their diminishing roster of soldiers, but Shacklebolt said he still hears Wizards walking around talking about the horrible disaster that nearly happened and about how willing to die the Death Eaters seemed to be in order to kill innocent shoppers. That is the sort of thing that kept nine out of ten non-Death Eaters cowering on the sidelines during the Voldemort wars and will do so again today. That's what has Professor McGonagall in such a funk. She pictures parents dragging their children back home before she can implement her planned changes. She sees her dream of the younger Slytherins returning at Christmas also evaporating."

"So," Ron challenged Harry, "you're telling us that Thicknesse is this brilliant guy whose strategy seems to boil down to nothing more than hit us where we ain't, regardless of the probability of success, and to keep doing this often enough to keep everyone thinking of him, regardless of how many troops he loses."

"I'm not saying I totally agree with Shacklebolt's thinking, but yes, that's pretty much the current interpretation. They've also been careful to keep Barty Crouch and Thicknesse himself out of danger. I suspect he views the rest of the troops as being as expendable as Voldemort thought they were. I'm sure he misses Rowle. That level of sheer brutishness is hard to come by, but do you really think he valued the Goyles or the Frakes all that much?"

"I don't know," Ron replied. "I just wouldn't believe everything Shacklebolt tells you, if I were you. I remember how trustworthy he thought Bron Turner was. It didn't take a lot of deep thinking to see how suspicious that guy was, although we also suspected Bill and he turned out alright."

Contrary to my brother's reaction, I felt that Harry's explanation made so much sense that I no longer felt picked upon and hungrily devoured the rest of my tuna salad. I was still a little uneasy about his fascination with Professor Celine. I supposed we would have to at least drop in on her art club. I wanted a chance to form my own opinion of the Witch.

It really lifted my spirits to see Professor Firenze trot into class. With Harry absent last term, my crush on Firenze was what kept me going through the horrors of the Carrows. His classroom was always a refuge of safety, because even the Carrows seemed a little frightened of messing with the Centaurs. Bane's reputation served as protection.

Professor Firenze told us that we had chosen a particularly auspicious time to take Advanced Divination, as the universe seemed suddenly awash in important portents and prophecies. He observed that this was not an easy class, especially since Advanced Astronomical Observation was a required companion course and the only Hogwarts course to require an appreciable dose of mathematics. Since these classes were purely elective options, he started by asking each student why he or she had chosen the courses. I couldn't help laughing out loud when Harry announced "the Goblin King ordered me to take it. He said you were the best person to help me understand the big events that were coming." Firenze replied "that's the sort of recommendation that I would happily have more of."

I was surprised when Harry's Elf, Baal, whom I hadn't even realized was attending any classes answered, "Cotto has been instructing me on my duties and told me that a good Elf needs at least a passing understanding of prophesy, and that I should beg Harry Potter to allow me to come to this class with him."

"Also an excellent recommendation," Firenze replied. As expected, a lot of the girls who had been drooling over Firenze all through the introductory Divination course were totally unable to articulate a sensible reason for being in this advanced class.

"This class meets again in three days," Professor Firenze challenged us. "Headmaster McGonagall is adding a lot of interesting and vital material to the Hogwarts curriculum. I'm a believer and a practitioner of Divination, but I can tell you that it is a subject that very few Witches or Wizards will need to use in the course of their lives. It is not a bad thing to have an appreciation of the principles and limits of divination, if only to protect yourself from the many quacks in the field and to identify the very few prophecies that have any chance of being both valid and significant. Harry Potter can tell you that he encountered a huge storehouse of secret prophecies at the Ministry of Magic, and accidentally destroyed the majority of them. That is of no matter: the odds of more than a handful of all those prophecies being valid and important are vanishingly small. Almost all of what almost all of you will ever need to know about divination was learned in the introductory class.

"You had every opportunity to learn from Professor Trelawney that there is absolutely nothing of value to be found in tea leaves, palms, crystal balls, or animal entrails. I can tell you that there are no more than a handful of living Witches or Wizards who ever have or ever will have an original vision of a prophecy having any validity whatsoever. Much has been made of Professor Trelawney's prophecy regarding Voldemort and Harry Potter. She has since produced two other prophecies. None of these was original. All were known to the Unicorns and Centaurs before Professor Trelawney had her famous visions. If being here keeps you away from her class, then I am serving a purpose. It certainly wouldn't hurt most of you to learn some mathematics, just for its own sake, but except for those who personally figure in prophecies, or are planning future jobs where they may need to act upon what are claimed to be valid prophecies, or are that one in a thousand Witch or Wizard who is capable of prophetic vision, then your time would be better spent taking another course. I know that I am a safe object of adolescent romantic fantasy, but that is not an adequate reason for taking this course. If the girls who were unable to produce an intelligible reason for enrolling in this course are unable to do better at our next meeting, I'm afraid I'll have to ask them to leave."

This produced a lot of squirming in the seats and even some brows screwed up in as deep thought as their Slytherin owners were capable of. Pansy Parkinson, whom I at least give full marks for courage, finally raised her hand and asked "why are you picking on the Witches in this class, and looking at us Slytherins during most of your remarks? What kind of response is 'the Goblin King made me do it'? What does that even mean? And an Elf in class? Just because he's the famous Harry Potter, I don't think he should get a free pass. If I need a better reason to take this course, certainly he does too. I've obviously passed well beyond adolescent fantasies, I've got Draco. I just find the subject interesting and I'm not interested in practicality. I don't plan on ever having a job."

Professor Firenze was a little taken aback, but did take Pansy's questions seriously and answered them directly. "I focused on the Witches, because this term, like the prior two terms, I have almost ten times as many Witches as Wizards in this class. I accepted Harry's answer because the Goblin King told me that he had given Harry educational advice, and because I strongly believe that his advice was correct. As to the presence of Baal, I don't think you should underestimate the intellectual potential of Elves. I think prophesy is a fine thing for a young Elf to learn, especially a young Elf who will be serving the Deputy Minister. I don't view this as a vocational course, but neither do I see it as a core part of the Hogwarts curriculum. If you find my course intellectually stimulating, by all means remain in class. I find that to be a fully satisfactory answer. I can assure you from past experience, however, that many of your classmates were not seeking the intellectual sort of stimulation when they elected this course."

"Before we break for the day, I do want to say a little about the source of divination and prophecy. To understand divination, you have to understand that the universe is organized by mathematics, and that those who understand the complexities of mathematics are able to divine the secrets of this universe. You also have to understand that many sentient magical creatures, or merely sentient creatures, have the quality of their thinking denigrated because they lack opposable thumbs and are thus not very good at building things. I'm not referring to my fellow Centaurs; our hands work just fine, as anyone on the receiving end of one of our arrows can inform you. The Unicorns and the cetaceans, such as whales, cannot build, but that hasn't stopped them from thinking. Whales have little to do but swim around with their mouths open and think. They have very long lives, and they think very well. They and the Unicorns are good at thinking, but incapable of recording their thoughts, which is where the Centaurs come in. In addition to doing our own thinking, we communicate with the Unicorns and cetaceans, incorporating their thinking into our own theories, and recording all of that as a starting point for future generations. Unicorns are extremely attuned to any changes in the magical force and the whales are much attuned to even minor changes in the Earth. Sound and other pressure changes travel very far in water.

"We Centaurs harvest that information from them and use that, as well as what we see in the night sky, as the basis for our divinations. We also interpret the prophetic visions which occasionally come to especially sensitive Unicorns. The rare Centaur is capable of original prophetic vision, although this may well be simply the manner in which our subconscious mind communicates the results of its processing of all the information that we have gathered. I am happy to say that I personally have experienced several prophetic visions. At least one proved to be valid and significant and I believe that another is unfolding currently. That should give you enough to think about, for now.

"Remember, we will be observing the sky through our telescopes tonight. I want each of you to get a telescope and meet me at the entrance gate at 9:00 P.M. We will be conducting our observations on the island of Iona, where the clearer sky will allow us to view more of the fainter stars. Tonight is new moon, so it is a propitious night for star gazing."

Despite her defense of the Witches in the class, I noticed that Pansy distanced herself from the three younger Slytherins- turned-Gryffindors as we headed to lunch. "It will be interesting to observe the sky from Iona," Hermione enthused "I still have a clear image of King Goblanze's star map in my mind. I want to see how closely the actual sky resembles what he drew."

After Firenze's class, Harry and I had what I viewed as another very unfortunate encounter with Professor McGonagall. We had decided to take a short stroll toward Hagrid's hut. We hadn't walked far when we noticed Draco and Pansy on a blanket under a tree snogging. That had actually lifted my spirits and made me feel a bit frisky, so I patted Harry's bottom and gave him a peck on the lips as he turned to look at me, before we continued our stroll, past a pair of third year Gryffindors, mildly snogging against a tree trunk to our right. As we resumed our stroll toward Hagrid's hut, I heard "harrumph, Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley. I thought I strictly forbade any public displays of affection anywhere that younger students might observe you."

"I just gave Harry a very quick peck on the mouth, almost Granny style," I replied in our defense, before going on the attack "you just passed Draco and Pansy doing far more than that under that tree and said nothing". I pointed at the tree in question. Professor McGonagall's gaze followed my finger and she couldn't help but observe Draco lying practically on top of Pansy."

"Don't be impertinent, Miss Weasley. Just because I missed the first pair of offenders, doesn't mean I can't remark upon the second. That will be one point from Gryffindor, and I expect you to do better in future." With that she was gone, also having ignored the third years, who had hastily put about six feet between themselves.

"Don't make too much of that," Harry urged me. "She's had a really bad couple of days".

I was not at all pleased that our schedules contained an hour a week of arithmancy, although Hermione promised us that it was a very interesting, if possibly somewhat impractical course. Although I admitted to resenting having to study any subject under a prior Death Eater, like Narcissa, Harry reminded me that she had saved his life, was really just the wife of a Death Eater, had been reasonably friendly over the summer, and that he was actually kind of curious to find out how well she would do as an instructor. I had to admit that, although I didn't think arithmancy was my sort of subject, that Narcissa was a gifted instructor who promised to make the course as entertaining as it possibly could be. I also had to admit that she treated me very well in class.

**Original text**

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	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter Sixty-Five - My Boring Life Apart From Harry**

Harry got an owl on Wednesday, and I was astounded to learn that it was from Dudley. Harry hadn't even mentioned giving Dudley an owl. Dudley's news was that he had yet to identify a suitable house for Harry, but would continue looking. He also said that he was continuing to investigate the death of his grandfather and had formed the habit of visiting his Gran twice a week. I wasn't sure why Dudley was still investigating the death, since Bruce had already confessed to the crime.

"Two reasons," Harry told me. "It is possible that Bruce made a false confession to avoid going to France. It is more strongly possible that Bruce did not act alone. It continues to seem strange to me that Bruce suddenly decided to risk returning from exile to check in on his grandfather. I suspect that someone warned him that grandfather was displaying magical tendencies. I also doubt that he simply stole his father's Land Rover or that the theft was promptly reported. There was after-the-fact tampering with witnesses, destruction of files, and general interference with the investigation. None of that could have been Bruce's doing. He had fled back to the Continent. I've also visited my grandmother. She gets lonely."

So… even with our special link, I didn't know everything that my Harry was up to. I feel pathetic when my inner ear hears myself moan that lament. Knowing everything about your boyfriend would have to kill all mystery and with that, possibly any chance of romance. At least that is what my time in the Muggle Studies portion of the Ministry library had informed me. There were advantages to communicating by actually speaking aloud to each other. I smacked myself aside the head and got on with my day. I had friends at Hogwarts and many important things to do on my own. The absence of Harry to his Ministry duties did give me the opportunity to more closely observe and interact with the others in my life. I couldn't help noticing and appreciating Cotto. I hadn't met another soul who so consistently assigned himself extra work and who so magnanimously interacted with those, such as Hermione, who were pointedly snitting at him. It wasn't that Cotto was overly deferential in manner – it would be closer to the truth that he projected an aura of calm, self-confident superiority, without giving in to any signs of arrogant strutting.

One morning I gave in to my curiosity and directly asked Cotto "for an old Elf who has lived wild and who just recently was awaiting death in a crummy cage at the Elf farm, you seem amazingly confident, serene, and gifted in the skills of a house Elf. How do you do it?"

"Confident come from understand self and survive much. Wild Elfs face many troubles. I see bad Wizard murder family. Everything else must be small problem. I do many things in long life. All wild Elf must do this. I not always in Wales. Work in Wizard homes here and in France. Live in Eire and England, own shop in Germany I know Hermione is friend."

Well yes, his tolerance of Hermione's yelling, snubbing, and snitty comments was what I had largely been referring to. But he trained and guided the other Elves in so many things.

Cotto took an hour a day to instruct the two extra Elves whom Hogwarts had hired and another four jobless freed Elves who were discharged by their new Wizard employers and had to be given temporary jobs at the Ministry. Cotto taught them new skills and insisted that they put in a solid day's work for their pay. Hermione smiled when Percy told Cotto, "it's only a temporary job, you can't expect them to bust their, whatever it is that Elves bust, for a job that hopefully they'll only have for a couple months before they secure permanent employment."

"More reason to learn and work hard," Cotto told him. "That is good Elf way. Ministry not feed forever. Free Elf need respect from Wizards. I tell Elfs to be proud." There was no question about it, the Elves definitely worked harder after that. Hermione did her part, providing instruction to the Elves and enlisting me to teach them about herbs, spices, and the secrets of preparing some of our favorite dishes. I had to get some help from Mom and Professor Sprout, who came to the Ministry to give a couple lessons each.

Harry had hired both a Wizard house designer and a Goblin engineer to prepare construction plans for what Harry described as "a good, but not lavish home. It will need an office, a nice kitchen, a bedroom with its own bathroom for an auror guard, rooms for children… I guess we should plan on…"

"Three is a good number to plan for," I told Harry, who seconded that opinion for an amused designer. After that, Harry and I reviewed all the plans together. I was a little embarrassed how consistently Harry deferred to my suggested changes. It got a little embarrassing when the designer looked to me, before he looked to Harry. We soon had a working plan for a home the same size as the Burrow, but both more modern and more rugged. It especially was more secure and easily defensible. Each room had a little more space than the Burrow, because we weren't planning for seven little Weasleys. As Harry signed the drawing approving the plans and paid the designers with a pile of gold galleons, it was dawning on me that Harry and I really were going to get married at the end of the school term.

Our first day of classes had been a Monday. Our schedules were so full. The needs to reassure both the first years and Professor McGonagall were so great that, even though some courses didn't start until the second week, Harry only was able to spend several hours at the Ministry, prior to the weekend. He decided to do his reading and studying on Sunday and to spend all of Saturday at the Ministry. It wasn't until I came down to the common room at 7:30 to gather myself for breakfast and was told by Hermione that Harry had headed off to the Ministry at 5:30, that I got a full appreciation of what he meant by all of Saturday. Hermione was on her way to the library for a full day of research on her independent study project, so I decided to pal around with Cissy. Cissy was typically able to more than hold up her side of a conversation, but was never what I would describe as bubbly.

When she entered the common room at 7:45, suggesting that we head off to breakfast together because she had lots to talk to me about, she most definitely was bubbly. As soon as we ducked past the fat lady portal she began chattering on about the really cute Gryffindor boy that she had met in our common room, when she was unable to sleep and had wandered down to read in a chair in front of the fireplace, a little past midnight, she thought. She had relaxed in her chair and begun to read her Introduction to Divination text, the soles of her bare feet turning toasty warm, when she sensed movement in a big chair, which was turned away from her. "I cleared my throat and asked, is anybody here?" knowing that I really ought to be up in the dorm and not wanting to be reported, but also not wanting to have somebody secretly watching me. A deep male voice, deeper than any of the Wizards in my level, answered back saying, 'it's me, Alex, I just came down to read a little, because I couldn't sleep.' I stood up and turned around to see who it was, forgetting that I was wearing my ratty pajamas, and there was this slightly short, really handsome boy, looking old enough to be a seventh year, with long strawberry blonde hair down to his shoulders, the most piercing clear blue eyes I've ever seen, very nice shoulders, and this incredible face. He had to be about five-foot seven, with a really muscular build and the most perfect smile I've ever seen."

I told Cissy that I thought I knew every one of the Gryffindor fifth, sixth, and seventh years and that her description did not match anybody whom I could remember. I suggested, "Perhaps Professor McGonagall has sent us another exchange student, or even a returning Slytherin." At this point we were sitting down at the Gryffindor table, amongst a smattering of students, as weekends produced a very drawn out breakfast period.

"That's probably what it is," Cissy resumed her outpouring of thoughts. "I thought he seemed different, not like any of the Gryffindors that I've met and certainly not like any of the Slytherin boys. He must be a French exchange student. He seemed to have a sophistication that you rarely find in a British Wizard. He also had a darker complexion, like you'd expect of a Wizard from southern France. Anyway, we talked and talked. It was as if he already knew everything about me and my problems. Talking to him, the problems seemed to melt away and become trivial. He was so sympathetic and encouraging. I've never felt as comfortable talking to anyone, other than Harry, Margaret, and you. And I didn't meet Harry or you in my ratty pajamas. Have you ever met someone who just seemed to know and understand you before you even exchanged names? I wouldn't have believed it possible."

"He really seems to have made an impression on you. Did he go back up to the Gryffindor boys' dorm after you finished talking?"

"I assume so, we talked for about two hours and then we heard a noise at the top of the girls' stairs. He told me that I'd better hurry back to bed, so I did. He said he'd return to bed in a few minutes. He promised that he'd see me again. I have to tell you that I'm really looking forward to seeing him again."

Others at the table were noticing Cissy's enthusiasm, which made her self-conscious, which caused her to change the topic to an equally excited exclamation of "the gloriousness of sitting on the ground of Iona and mapping the sky through our telescopes. I'd like to remap the sky some night with Alex. I just know he'd be as excited by the view and Professor Firenze's explanations as I was. I could tell he thinks about things deeply, with a lot of both intellect and emotion. Don't you think it rare for a boy to have such an instant appreciation of the essence of things? I do."

I was eating rapidly as I had already formed the thought that I had been mistaken to think that I wanted to spend the day with Cissy. Ron's arrival was a relief and I stared at him willing him to interrupt my conversation with Cissy. Ron seemed to be trying to make sense of my strange behavior, but he did obligingly step into the conversation in the exact manner that I had hoped.

"Hermione is going to be in the library all day and Harry won't get back until dinner. I thought we should talk to Professor McGonagall about taking the time to preview all of those old Dumbledore memories that we didn't get to before being distracted by other things. We could see if there is anything really important and make sure that Harry and Hermione at least watch the really important ones."

"That's a great idea, Ron," I blurted out. "We should try to catch Professor McGonagall right now, in case she's planning on spending the day on business outside Hogwarts."

The expression that fleeted across Cissy's face made me suspect that I had place too much emphasis on the 'right now'. There was no choice but to give her a quick explanation and ask if she wished to help with the previewing of the memories. Unfortunately, she thought viewing the memories sounded like a great way to spend the morning. Ron headed back to the dorm to retrieve a block of memories, while Cissy and I sought out Professor McGonagall.

Over the past two days Professor McGonagall had seemed to recover and re-anchor herself in her essential core. If she was still the stiff Victorian, she was at least approachable without the sense of fear she had inspired at the start of the week. As I knocked on her door, I was hoping she would reject the memory viewing proposal and instead assign me a task that would separate me from Cissy. The soppy exuberance of third year infatuation was wearing on me, especially with Harry gone for the day. Professor McGonagall seemed delighted at the prospect of viewing more memories and ushered us into her office. It seemed as though she thought it important to learn whatever messages Dumbledore had left for us, but had been unable to redirect Harry in that direction.

Ron returned with the memories and carried the Pensieve to Professor McGonagall's desk. He pulled out the first memory, with an air that led me to believe he intended to work his way through the entire block of twenty-five vials, memory by memory. He poured the first vial into the Pensieve, giving Professor McGonagall and me the honor of first dive into the Pensieve. I had the normal sense of falling and then found myself standing in the very position in which I was actually standing, but facing Professor Dumbledore, who was seated at his desk, an array of brass devices spread out in front of him. "I hope this experiment will work," a slightly younger Dumbledore, without a maimed hand, told us. "I am capturing a short lecture in the form of a memory. I'll test this on Snape and if it works, try some others. I want to capture the skills that I needed to tune the crystal circle under Gringotts.

"There are many specific tools that can be used for this purpose. The Goblins have developed their own tools, as did the Continental Wizards. What I have before me are the devices passed down from the early Hogwarts Headmasters, beginning with Ravenclaw, and skipping those viewed as unworthy. I hope these tools find their way to worthy hands when I am no longer able to wield them. This device that I am lifting looks very much like a crystal ball. It is a slightly flattened sphere of quartz fired at a very high temperature and cooled under conditions of gentle shaking to exclude all trace of bubbles or imperfections. As you can see, it has been carefully polished to an extreme smoothness and wrapped in an intricate web work of silver wire, fine as a human hair. When I hold it like this, you can see that circular areas at the top and bottom, along the long pole, are free of the silver wire. A shallow depression has been carefully cut and polished in the bottom circle. It is cut precisely such that the stone from the Keeper's ring of Ravenclaw fits exactly in the depression, thus. The ring must be worn for at least an hour to absorb the user's energy, before affixing it.

"This globe is now ready to detect the magical lines of force. I hold the end with the stone above the area that I wish to observe and peer through the circle at the other end. The force lines appear as a glowing pink to red inside the ball. The darker and brighter the line inside the ball, the stronger the line of magical force. You will see the lines appear to bulge a little wider at the point where they are anchored. The lines from the circle are strong enough that you can view their pattern through this device, even if you step to the other end of the cavern and look at the entire circle at once. In a properly tuned circle, the lines should be evenly spaced and of equal strength. They should lie symmetrically, with no evidence of what I will call smearing, which results from unwanted interference of the lines emitted from the separate crystals when they are out of tune.

"Here is the tricky part of the lecture. This is what I saw when I viewed the Gringotts Circle, after I had tuned it. You can see the perfect symmetry. It is really a thing of beauty. Now, I'm extracting my memory of the observations that I made before I tuned it. Here is the overall view. Notice the distortion in the upper right area of my field of view. You can see that the problem seems to be interference between the 4th and 5th crystal. Watch as I move closer. The bending of some of the force lines and the almost complete smearing of the force lines in what is now the center of my field of view, should be apparent. That is enough for one lesson."

I wondered if Harry knew the remaining memories would be this boring when he postponed watching them. It was at least comforting to watch and listen to a Dumbledore who was much healthier than the last year I had seen him.

The Professor and I came up for air to find Ron and Cissy locked in discussion. "I wasn't here last term, but I patrolled the whole of the Hogwarts Express this year, and I never saw a boy that comes close to your description. Even taking into account that your fascination with him might distort the description a little, I just don't think there is a Gryffindor who looks like that."

We had a brief pause in our memory viewing as Cissy sought affirmation of her memory from Professor McGonagall. The Professor said she did not recognize any Hogwarts student from the description Cissy had provided. "Did you see him at the Gryffindor table during the start of term dinner or breakfast?" the Professor reasonably queried.

"I never saw him anywhere before last night," Cissy replied. "Don't tell me it was a dream. I know it wasn't. It was far too vivid and lasted far too long and my memory of it is far too detailed."

"You are a Keeper trainee, perhaps you were having a vision of somebody whom you'll meet in the future. Did you see anything that might suggest that the events were in the future?" I tried to refocus Cissy's thinking. "Were you wearing your Keeper ring? We were told that could increase the ability to see prophetic visions."

"No, I'm sure it wasn't a vision. I was wearing my ratty pajamas. I remember looking down and staring at them in extreme regret. I assure you that I will never wear them again. They're very comfortable, but being caught in them by a cute boy will never happen again."

"We'll discuss this later. Now Ron and Cissy should view the memory."

The next twelve vials completed Dumbledore's how-to manual on retuning the Gringotts Circle. It also became an endurance contest among the four of us. Ron was the first to beg off viewing any more memories and the rest of us readily agreed to stop. I had carefully labeled each memory as we viewed them and returned them to the wood block for storage or viewing by Harry if he wanted to experience them this weekend. If nothing else, they would be a great aid for the magical engineering course. We had spent the whole morning, but I felt like we had accomplished a lot. The others agreed that we would finish viewing the other thirteen memories in this block on Sunday. The other good thing was that Cissy's mind had been rebooted and she had stopped going back to her mystery boy every time she had a few minutes between the viewing and discussion of Dumbledore's memories. At the last break, she had been enthusing to Ron about "how interesting Professor Celine's class is. Focusing upon perspective causes you to look at things differently and even reinterpret what your eyes are telling you. I'm learning so much. She's also boosted my confidence almost as much as Harry and your sister have. I think Professor Celine is a like spirit."

As Ron was removing the Pensieve from Professor McGonagall's desk, Cissy was complimenting the headmaster on "what an amazingly good addition to the faculty, Professor Celine is. She just thinks differently than any of the other professors. I…" That gave me the opportunity to separate myself from her and escape to the library, where I could do my studying with Hermione.

Harry arrived back in the common room, saying he had just returned from dinner with Dad and the Goblin King at Gringotts, where they finished discussions on the charter renewal, which would be presented to the Wizengamot on Monday. They had also discussed Harry's proposal to create an above-ground Goblin sanctuary in the area surrounding the cave entrance to the Gryffindor route into the Reception Hall of the Sacred Cavern. Dad had agreed it was a reasonable goodwill gesture to the Goblins, and a way of protecting the British Goblin population from being wiped out by a major earthquake.

Harry said Shacklebolt briefed him on the questioning of both the Death Eaters whom we had captured in Diagon Alley and our prisoners from Edinburgh, but that they had provided little useful information. The Diagon Alley bombers said that they had received the bomb and their orders from Barty Crouch, Jr. He had contacted them by cell phone and directed them to a small house in a north London suburb, where they found instructions and a cache of bombs. The aurors had searched the house and recovered half a dozen bombs, but nothing else of value. The bombers knew nothing else except that they hated Dad and Harry for leading their government. They felt them unworthy. 

"The Frakes boys had joined the Voldemort forces after he took over the Ministry, but were not formally Death Eaters. They had been recruited for the attack after the exposure and seizure of their Elf farm. Mrs. Crabbe and the Goyles have not revealed where they had been hiding. Some articles discovered on their persons suggested they have recently been in Cardiff, so a few aurors were sent there to see if they could pick up the dead trail, but found nothing.

"As for our prisoners, the two Belgians we caught were a twenty-five year old Wizard and his nineteen-year old Witch girlfriend. They are friends with the Witch who got away and told us her name and where to find her. Monsieur Delacour found her fairly quickly, but she knew nothing more than our two could tell us. They were approached by the fourth Wizard in a bar frequented by youngish Wizards in Brussels. They were offered a lot of money to take a vacation and to watch us. A lot more money if they could retrieve anything we found. They didn't expect all the aurors. They thought there were just the four of us and that Shacklebolt was a helpless old Wizard. They tried to flee when Malcom started cursing them, but they didn't all make it.

"The Witch that the French picked up thought the guy who recruited them might have been on the juice. He kept taking sips from a hip flask, every few hours. They weren't told what they were to retrieve. They weren't told whom they were working for, other than 'you're working for me, now keep your mouth shut!' The French authorities didn't recognize any of them. They didn't attend Beauxbatons, never voted, never paid taxes, didn't register their residence with the Ministry and basically lived as if they were Muggles, outside of that bar. The French are watching the bar.

"The two Wizards who came out of the end townhouse to attack us were Slytherins in their forties, but not know Death Eater or Grindelwald associates. Apparently they were business associates of Gamot Frakes, doing mainly detective or you might call it spying work and serving as his protectors and his drivers when he went into the Muggle world. They said they were paid to keep that townhouse safe and to do repairs.

"The aurors searched the house and found nothing apart from papers which confirmed what they told us. Shacklebolt also searched Frakes' house. Madam Bones is very upset about that. He found the twin of the black monolith that the engineers recovered from the church. Shacklebolt thinks there must be a third one somewhere in the park, to provide the extensive magical barriers we observed. Papers in the house proved that Frakes was in touch with Barty, but only in the month before he died. Also papers showing he owned the two townhouses through an elaborate series of Muggle businesses. Shacklebolt is going to search those businesses. One is in Edinburgh. Frakes' townhouse also had a hoard of over a thousand gold galleons. There were two house Elves, so Shacklebolt's search won't remain a secret for long.

"Oh, and Ellie the curator is the one who's studying the monoliths. She was able to use one of them to set up the apparation barrier in Diagon Alley on the day we caught the bombers. Don't mention that last – it might put her in great danger. It's good to know that she gets to do more than dust, sweep, and recopy old labels."

**Original text**

Contribute a better translation


	66. Chapter 66

**Chapter Sixty-Six – Leaks, Again**

"But… here is the scariest thing that Shacklebolt learned. Barty gave the Goyles very detailed plans by cell phone on the evening before the attack. He told them when, where, and how to attack. He said that the first attacker would be quickly subdued by aurors, but that the second wave would ambush and kill all of the aurors. He knew the deployment of the aurors in detail, just as it was planned by Shacklebolt. We won the battle, and the Death Eaters walked into the trap, only because they didn't know about our presence. Even Shacklebolt himself didn't know when he drew up the original plan for deploying the aurors. The Death Eaters expected to apparate to freedom, when the auror reinforcements apparated in. They lost their window of opportunity when we attacked them. But that means that they knew about the apparation barrier. That's why Ellie is in danger. The Minister and Shacklebolt agree with me and she has been assigned a protective auror. It also means…. we still have a mole in the auror corps. Shacklebolt previously used Veritaserum to question all of the aurors who were in the jail prior to and during the attack on Percy. They all passed the test. Shacklebolt is going to widen his search. That's all I can tell you."

Hermione was shaken by Harry's tale. "Just when I think we've taken the advantage, I find we are farther behind than I thought. This just shows how very lucky we are that Percy is still alive. Did Shacklebolt question Madam Bones, by the way? Would she have had access to Shacklebolt's plan for Diagon Alley? I just don't trust that Witch."

Ron was quick to agree with her, but Harry said that there really was no reason to suspect Madam Bones and that he strongly doubted that Director Shacklebolt would have shared any plans at all with her, unless specifically ordered by the Minister.

I told Harry about the Dumbledore memories and the fantastical tale told by Cissy. Harry thought the former quite useful, but not something he needed to watch anytime soon, and the latter the product of an overwrought young girl who was finally showing outward signs of the problems that losing her family could be expected to cause. I told Harry about how Cissy had raved about Professor Celine and conceded that we should put in an appearance at her after-classes art club.

Harry replied, "I really believe we should. Adrienne represents the new Wizarding world, as do we. We should support her and learn what we can from her. She has a lot of Muggle experience. As to Cissy, all of her emotions seem to be running between the dismal and the wildly enthusiastic. I'd feel better about her if she could level off a bit. I'm not worried about her, because that's exactly how I was at her age. Hmm, perhaps we should worry about her."

There was a knock at the Fat Lady portal and Ron opened the door to find an agitated Dad and a brace of aurors waiting outside. Dad and two aurors entered our common room, with a red-faced Dad brandishing a rolled up newspaper and demanding of Harry "Have you seen this?" I had a fleeting thought of Harry as a bad doggie who had no idea what he had done wrong, but was about to be swatted across the nose, nonetheless.

"What is it?" Harry reasonably inquired.

"It's the Evening Prophet and it has a full account of what you, Shacklebolt and I discussed this morning. Have you shared our discussion with anyone?"

"I just gave a quick summary to my advisors, but it couldn't possibly have made it into the paper an hour or more before I had the discussion. I couldn't possibly have told anyone in time for the Evening Prophet to print it. I was with you the whole time."

"This isn't the first time this has happened. On Tuesday night, the Evening Prophet had an article that covered what I had just discussed over lunch that very day."

"I wasn't even at the Ministry then," Harry reminded Dad. "Who was present for your discussion?"

"Just Prudence and Shacklebolt, and I'd trust both of them with my life."

"And you wouldn't trust me?"

"You know that's not what I meant. This is just very upsetting. Earlier, the Evening Prophet knew about the discussion we had after you included the tax cut in the Elven rights bill. That was just you, Percy, Callista, your circle, and me present at that meeting. Prudence and Shacklebolt weren't even present at the time."

"But they were sitting with me at the Wizengamot and we discussed almost exactly what I told you. They knew what I knew."

I don't know why I said it, perhaps it was because of Dad's crack about trusting Prudence and Shacklebolt, while clearly believing Harry or we were the leak. I regret it now, but I couldn't help saying, "gee, Dad you've solved the mystery. You're the only one who was at all the meetings, so you must be the leak."

Dad shot me a really angry look and Harry didn't look like he appreciated my comment, either. It certainly didn't help that one of Dad's aurors failed to suppress a guffaw. After staring at me for half a minute, Dad simply shook his head and asked the offending auror to wait in the corridor.

Since I had already caused a mini-disaster, Hermione was emboldened to enter the conversation. "From what you describe Minister, it sounds very much as if someone may have placed a Muggle listening device in the Ministry. You should have the aurors do another search."

"Thank you, Hermione. That is at least a useful suggestion. The aurors have already completed the search and they found nothing in any of the rooms where the leaked meetings occurred. I've complained to Barnabas Cuffe, the editor of the Daily and Evening Prophets, but that wasn't any help. He asked me if the stories were accurate, and I had to admit that they were, even though I knew that they couldn't have been obtained honestly. He said that he didn't tell his reporters how to do their jobs, but was confident that they wouldn't break any laws. I reminded him of Rita Skeeter, but he said there was no way he could have known she was an unregistered animagus, although it certainly was a very useful skill for his reporters to have. He flatly refused to ask his reporter how he obtained the information for the stories. He said if the facts were reported correctly, and I had admitted that they were, and the article was well written and entertaining, which it certainly was, and if his reporter got the scoop before Lovegood did, then he had to conclude that the reporter in question had done excellent work.

"Barnabas even had the gall to complain to me that we weren't giving as much direct access to his reporters as we were giving to Lovegood. He said he agreed that his reporter Malcolm Frakes might have taken a few cheap shots at our administration, and that we might be justifiably reluctant to send a scoop his way, but that he also employed Harry's friend Ernie, who had always written fairly about us. He said we certainly could give information to Ernie on an equal footing with Lovegood. I explained that Luna gave some tips to her father and that she was present when some of the action occurred, so of course she knew of it before the Prophet. I know that I'm rambling, but I mainly wanted to tell Harry that I felt obliged to agree that Harry would meet with Ernie once a day. He'll be joining you for dinner. I mentioned this to your headmaster. I don't think she was pleased. She said, 'you can be assured that I will bill the Ministry for whatever Ernie eats.' I told her to just send a monthly bill to Barnabas. I even offered to meet with Ernie myself, but Barnabas said that his readers found Harry to be more interesting than me. I can assure you that this has not been a pleasant evening.

"I did tell Barnabas that if I ever again read the words "Filthy Mudblood" in one of his newspapers, especially if it was used to describe a friend of mine and a contributor to my administration, that I would set aside my reverence for the press. Nobody in my administration would ever again speak to one of his reporters. At least he was good enough to apologize and show a trace of embarrassment for that particular offense."

"Thank you, and I'm sorry, Sir," Harry replied. "Let me assure you again that none of us was the leak. Before you jump to the conclusion that it was Professor McGonagall, I haven't said a word to her today. She also doesn't know about our meeting after the Elven Rights bill passed, at least not any of the details. Rest assured, I'll treat Ernie well when he comes to visit. You should let me know stories that you want me to pass on to him."

"I'm glad to hear she wasn't read in on that. I can't begin to tell you how aggravating it is to open the paper and read them reporting that I wasn't even aware of the tax proposal being presented by my own administration. The Evening Prophet had a big gloat on that. Barnabas wasn't too thrilled when I told him that Gamot Frakes hadn't outsmarted you as his reporter had been convinced. When I explained about the voting, Barnabas had to admit that we had pulled one over on Frakes. Of course, that never made it into print. Well, I'll leave you to your dinner. Good night Harry, I'm sorry if I jumped on you. And, um, good night Ginevra. I'll be speaking to your mother."

"Sir," Harry halted his progress for a moment, "we've known for quite some time that the Prophet and all its reporters except Ernie don't like us. We are trying to make a lot of changes. It shouldn't be surprising that some people or some papers don't like us and want to make us look foolish. We've achieved a lot in a short time. Don't let them wear you down." Dad just nodded, waved, and was gone.

"Wow, Dad is really losing it," Ron exclaimed after the Fat Lady portrait closed behind Dad. "You shouldn't have made that crack about him being the leak, though. Now you'll have to deal with Mom. Our family always read the Prophet and not The Quibbler. I think it unnerves Dad that the Prophet is attacking him, while the Quibbler supports him. But the Quibbler has changed. It's now as popular as The Prophet."

I shared Ron's worry about Dad, and about how Mom would react to all of this. I resolved to strike preemptively over dinner, that is if we weren't too late for dinner, and give her our version of the story, before she heard from Dad.

We weren't too late for dinner, although Professor McGonagall was none too pleased about our untimely arrival. I was, however, too late to talk to Mom before Dad phoned her. We were also surprised to learn that tonight was to be the first of Harry's regular interviews with Ernie. We found out by seeing Ernie sitting at the Gryffindor table. He was already halfway through his dessert. I would have liked some meat and veggies, but had to content myself with three large desserts.

Ernie didn't give Harry any time to gather his thoughts, greeting him with, "there you are. McGonagall said 'Harry will be along eventually', so I just waited, and ate. Do you have a story for me?"

"I'm guessing the details about today's meeting at the Ministry wouldn't count as a scoop. Let me tell you what Professor Firenze has read in the night sky about a coming crisis…" To his credit, Ernie did manage to make a decent story out of Harry's retelling of Firenze's celestial prophesying and the star chart kept by the Goblin King. Ernie left telling Harry, "I'll be back in three days. Either have a good new story for me, or be prepared to provide new details on one of your adventures." My own reaction was relief at a two-dinner respite.

Mom told me that while Dad may have been amused by my light-hearted irreverence when I was both younger and safer, and he was far less stressed than he is today, that this sort of approach toward him was totally out of the question now. Dad now associated frivolity on my part with incaution toward the dangers I faced. I realized that this was true and that I had to present a more serious, grown-up character to Dad. I was relieved when Mom told me that Dad realized that I was mainly defending Harry and that, in truth, he really had no reason to storm out to Hogwarts. He could have sent a floo message about Ernie and spoken to Harry about the leaks at any time. He was just very upset and angry. Mom said that we might actually take it as a good sign that Dad felt we were a safe and comfortable enough group to vent his frustrations to. She regretted that he didn't choose to lean on her more often.

Hermione told Harry, "We have to visit Ellie. I want to find out how she controls the monolith and whom she talked to about her work. I think she can enlighten us on a good many things."

Harry agreed.


	67. Chapter 67

**Chapter Sixty-Seven – We Attend Class**

The next week saw a return to normalcy for Cissy as well as the rest of us. Harry squeezed in two half-day trips to the Ministry and made it to all of his classes. He made the time each night to review his, or Percy's, actions at the Ministry that day. Typically Harry gave the broad brush description and Cotto provided detail. I hadn't been able to spend any time at the Ministry, which didn't please me, but it was nice to think I was at least apprised of important events. It made me feel that I was more fully attuned with and a part of Harry's whole life.

I asked Professor Celine about joining her art club, but she suggested that since we had missed the several sessions in which she discussed perspective and what she called 'artistic viewing', that we should first attend a couple of her classes for the second years, where she assured us we would quickly pick up the essentials. A big reason why I couldn't make it to the Ministry was that these were two hour classes and I attended three of them, to Harry's one. Hermione also attended these classes, sitting next to her mother, who seemed to be enjoying the class and who seemed quite good at drawing.

At least Harry got to attend her 'quick summary rehash' session, which covered everything she had taught in her first six classes. Professor Celine said she was a strong believer in doing a review session every five to seven classes, to give students a chance to catch up, hear the material a second time with more background to fully appreciate it, and to brush up on points they might have forgotten. This seemed like a very good idea and I wished she would convince the other professors to adopt it. In any case, Harry got a twenty minute summary each on perspective, artistic vision, and the mixing of colors. He then got an hour to practice drawing with a very thick graphite pencil. This had been the pattern in all of Professor Celine's classes – the first hour was instruction, demonstration, and viewing of what she considered very well done drawings, with the second hour devoted to the students' own artistic endeavors.

She warned us "don't think that you've 'learned' the subjects that we've just reviewed. Even if you've attended all of my classes, you've only scratched the surface. I feel that I've given you enough basic knowledge to start working and playing with these subjects as you go about your lives and try to produce your own art. Your art should change how you see the rest if the things in your life, and what you do and see in your whole life will change your art and make it richer. I need you to train your eyes and to truly think about what you see in the world around you. What is truly unique and beautiful and what is the essence which makes it so. It will take you a lifetime to truly learn this. This should appeal to you. I'm told that your group is the Ministry's great solvers of mysteries. Muggle detectives, and not just the fictional ones, must train themselves to be extremely observant. In that case you are not necessarily seeking the essence of the uniquely beautiful, but the 1% that stands out as out of place or wrong amidst the 99% that is perfectly ordinary about a person or scene."

{{Sort of like interpreting a vision.}}

{[Intrigued] Yes, it is. Looking at life and ordinary events through altered eyes.}

Harry and I spent a long but pleasant three hour session over a steaming cauldron as lab partners in Advanced Potions. The curriculum had been revised enough from what Professors Slughorn and Snape had taught us that it was like a new course for both Harry and me. Professor Sprout focused very heavily upon useful botanical potions, from the common to the most esoteric, starting us off on what she felt necessary to run a modern Wizard household efficiently.

"Every Witch and Wizard should know how to make these potions, but so few do, which is why the Chemist in Diagon Alley does such a good business in ready-made potions at ten times the cost of making your own. Instead of Veritaserum or Draught of the Living Death, we conjured up skin and hair-care products, basic pharmaceuticals and home remedies, and a formula for ridding the kitchen garden of gnomes.

She argued that in addition to being useful, these potions took less time to brew and could be made largely from ingredients that one could grow in one's own garden or a very simple mini-greenhouse, or even purchase readily in Muggle stores. She seemed to be progressing through the full litany of plants that we had handled in herbology class during the previous years. In our first four class meetings, we had prepared nine different potions. Professor Sprout inspected our results closely and encouraged us to take our successes with us, using them as they were helpful to our dorm life and laying in a stash of the others for future domesticity. She carefully pointed out which potions would spoil if stored for too long. It's a little petty, but both Harry and I were pleased that all nine of our potions were deemed good enough for use, while only eight of Ron's and Hermione's passed muster.

In one sense it seemed like I had gone back to taking baby steps. In another, it was a pleasant, leisurely activity that gave me a chance for meandering conversations with Harry. It was also very reminiscent of the time I used to spend in the kitchen with Mom, before I went off to Hogwarts.

Other than Firenze's classes last term, this was the only class that I consistently left with a warm feeling. Unlike Professor Snape, Professor Sprout didn't seem to care how much we talked amongst ourselves, as long as we finished our work. Without the dangers posed by semi-carnivorous plants to guard her students against, Professor Sprout projected a sense of easy-going comfort. It also appeared that she had decided that the Voldemort wars were over and therefore, what she derided as the 'military potions' were no longer important. "It might be a short cut to proper parenting, but I ask you, is it appropriate to use Veritaserum to find out what your children are really doing? A good healing potion, on the other hand, is something that every parent needs. You don't want to be running off to St. Mungo's for every sniffle and sore tummy."

She kept Neville quite busy keeping us supplied with aloe, half a dozen different mints, ginger, fenugreek, autumn crocus, cinnamon, rosemary, cannabis sativa, celery, rose hips, orange and lemon, chamomile, daylily buds, licorice, extract of poppy, nightshade, garlic, sassafras, St. John's Wort, and various tree barks. She also worked, in concert with Neville, to have each team begin its own cultures of half a dozen molds, yeasts, and even a beneficial bacterium. Because it was used in so many potions, each of us had to be up and dressed extra early each morning of potions lab to spend a half hour on the school grounds collecting a supply of fresh dew. That was the one downside of Professor Sprouts' class. At least it gave me a half hour to spend with Harry on the days he ducked out to the Ministry.

The new week had also brought our first lessons from Professor Mom. Ours was a very Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts course, open only to sixth and seventh years. Mom focused on situational awareness, such as knowing what was over your shoulder and placing your back firmly against a wall or tree if you didn't want an opponent apparating behind you. She insisted that we all develop a rote response to danger that we firmly committed to memory and practiced. Harry insisted that we practice one rote response to danger in Mom's class, where we could be observed by the Slytherins, and a quite different one in our separate practices together. Barb or Bill had taken to leading us through our private training sessions.

While Bill admitted that there was definitely some logic behind Harry's not wanting us to show our planned defensive moves to the Slytherins, he also declared that he had encountered few Wizards as naturally suspicious of just about everyone as Harry was proving to be. He said Shacklebolt's approach to life seemed quite similar, which likely was why Shacklebolt had never married.

Discussing Mom's class back in our common room on Saturday, we all had to admit that she was both a very effective teacher and very careful to avoid any accidents in her class. She had announced at our second class meeting that we would also be practicing wordless spells and some curses that were considerably stronger that the bat-bogey hex or 'expelliarmus', while falling far short of 'Avada Kedavra'. I was fairly sure that she was looking directly at Ron, when she made that last comment. She introduced us to what she called the "off" spell, which she described as a curse of her own invention. It could temporarily turn off an opponent's conscious mind, rendering them senseless for several hours.

I think that I noticed Mom's focus on Ron, because I remained surprised both that Ron seemed to show no negative outward effects of his 'Kill!' attack on the Death Eaters in Diagon Alley and that the Ministry seemed to have zero interest in determining exactly which wand had dispatched the Death Eaters with what was, after all, likely to be assumed to be the prohibited "Avada Kedavra' curse, and one that you don't select unless your goal is to kill your opponent. I think I secretly hoped that Mom knew what Ron had done, since it was weighing on me to be the only one, apart from Hermione, in whom Ron had confided.

The only succor available to me was to discuss my concerns with Hermione. She confessed to being "a little alarmed by the level of anger Ron is still carrying because of Fred's death, although he seems a little better. It's dumb to say this, but I think the art class has helped him."

I told Hermione that I was disturbed by the possible illegality of Ron's actions, since I wasn't at all sure that he could actually prove that he used "Kill!" instead of "Avada Kedavra" or why that should even make any difference legally.

I was somewhere between surprised and stunned when Hermione said, "I'm not so much concerned about that. But then, I'm Muggle-born and Muggle law doesn't concern itself about what weapon you use to kill someone, it's all about the circumstances. Since Ron acted to save the lives of several aurors, admittedly while working off some of his own anger, he would not be guilty of a crime under Muggle law. That's the law I grew up with. I don't approve of the Wizard law. It's just a way of giving an edge to the worst criminals, who already know they've committed a bad enough crime to be sent off to Azkaban, whether or not they use a prohibited curse. So the good guys and aurors are left with 'petrificus' and 'expelliarmus', while the bad guys are killing us off with 'Avada Kedavra'. It's really stupid. Plus," she added, "I think that whether or not he knows it, Ron was responding to very specific threats against the aurors. It strikes me as more than coincidence that when faced with five masked attackers, Ron killed only the two whom we know to be truly vicious. There must be a reason that he instinctively chose those two to curse. I'm guessing that they were the two doing all the 'Avada Kedavring'. That's the only way I can make any sense of what happened."

That really did make me feel better about Ron.

We practiced the 'off' spell later at our private practice session and Harry successfully put first me and then Ron to sleep. We both recovered with no ill effects, although Mom was livid that we practiced the spell for the first time while she wasn't there to ensure safety.

The next day I had an additional cause for mild irritation as Harry and I both noticed Professor McGonagall walk right past Draco and Pansy in the hallway, while the first and second years were leaving nearby classrooms. It was obvious to me that Draco's mouth was locked on Pansy's, while he had her pinned against the wall. "How can Professor McGonagall not see that?" I indignantly asked Harry.

McGonagall broke stride enough that I'm sure she must have heard my question to Harry, but she just kept walking. "I think she's just afraid that they'll leave Hogwarts, if she enforces the rule on them. Draco would still be in great danger if he left Hogwarts," was Harry's response.

We also picked up our first Advanced Wizard History class with McGonagall in week three. With the press of headmaster duties the first weeks of school, she had not scheduled this class to begin until the middle of the third week. Since the introductory Wizard History class was given to first years, both Cissy and Margaret were in this class with us. In fact, Harry, Ron, Hermione and I were the only students above fifth years to be taking the course. Even Hermione's Mom was in the class with us. There were enough students that our section was limited to Gryffindors. The first two classes covered the history of the Elven Wars.

I found it strange sitting in this class, both because I was surrounded by much younger students and because I remained at least a little angry with McGonagall. It's not that she had cited Harry and me for a second deviation from her prohibition of public displays of affection, it was that Harry had given her absolutely no reason to do so, even within the confines of our own common room.

The history of the very protracted Elven Wars was at least mildly interesting. As McGonagall explained, what was usually thought of as the war with the Elves was actually three separate wars over the course of nearly five hundred years. The first war began nearly a thousand years ago in the north of England, when a Wizard farmer evicted four Elf families from the land that Elves had farmed for several centuries. At that time, it was customary for Elves to hide in plain site by 'owning' and farming land that was part of a larger farm that the Muggles thought was owned by a Muggle squire, who was, in fact, a Wizard. Almost a third of what the deed book said was this Wizard's farm, actually supported the four Elf families.

The Wizard had two sons and not enough land for both of them, and neither son wished to join the church or assist a knight. The Wizard's solution was to violently evict the Elves, killing two adolescent Elves in the process. The Elves struck back the following night, burning down the farmstead and killing the Wizard's wife and one of his sons. During the course of a year of fighting, half of the Elves in England were killed, while the rest were driven into Scotland and Wales. Several dozen Wizards died in the fighting, mostly deaths that could be passed off as accidental.

Several centuries later, the process repeated itself in Wales and southern Scotland, with the spark being local Elves siding with the Welsh and Scots, while many Wizards were on the side of the English. Half the Elves in Britain were killed and most of the remainder were enslaved, with free Elf families surviving only in the western fringe of Wales, northern Scotland and the offshore islands.

The fighting in Eire came a hundred years later and was started by the Elves, who in the course of celebrating their New Year imbibed overly much, attacked, and basically wiped out a half dozen Wizard families who had recently moved to Eire from England. King Weasley, who had welcomed the English settlers, felt obliged to lead the fight against the Elves when they refused to turn over the offenders from their community to face the King's justice, or even to seriously punish them, themselves. In more than one Elven village, the murderers were hailed as heroes, who had partially avenged the abominations inflicted upon the Elves of Britain.

I felt it a little awkward to have Baal sitting in on this particular lecture. He said nothing during class, but as we were leaving, he commented to Harry "must talk with Cotto tonight. This is different story than I know."

Throughout this time, I sometimes helped Harry as he rewrote sections of his Young Wizards' Loan Agency bill. We usually spent a couple hours hard at work with our quills and then rewarded ourselves with a nice snog on Harry's sofa, but frankly such activity had become scarce the past week. Harry's office was in such demand between and after classes that we had to schedule the times we used it. Ron and Hermione and then George and Luna kept asking to borrow the office for what they termed 'constituent service.' Harry drew the line when Draco asked to borrow the office, but even relented and let Draco have it once. At least Baal could be depended upon to promptly clear out Harry's sensitive papers as soon as Harry left the office.

Apparently, Draco found even Professor McGonagall's virtually nonexistent effort to enforce her strictures against public displays of affection upon him and Pansy to be unbearably restrictive. To McGonagall, the Slytherins remained invisible. When she found Draco all over Pansy in the main corridor, with a gaggle of first year girls gawking at them, she merely suggested 'take that somewhere else' and kept walking. When she was fifteen feet away, Draco had indeed taken it to a higher level. Meanwhile, even the sort of timid pecks, which the first years happily accepted as adventurous snogging, were ruled out for Harry and me, anytime we were in any spot where a younger student might possibly appear. I just wished for more alone time with Harry in his office. In any event, Harry's office was very well utilized and at least a portion of his constituency was very well serviced.

The high point of the week was a trip to the Ministry on Friday to meet with Ellie. The logistics of the meeting were difficult for both Ellie and me. The head curator was reluctant to permit Ellie an hour away from her dusting. She insisted upon a lunch meeting, but Harry said it wasn't right to force the poor Witch to starve. A note from Dad bought Ellie as much time as necessary 'to meet with the Deputy Minister and the Director of the Auror Corps to discuss matters of vital importance to the safety of our community.' It also brought a big enough harrumph and frown from the curator that I had no doubt that Ellie would pay dearly for this excursion.

My problem was that McGonagall had decided that as a regular seventh year, I was not to be permitted to leave the campus. Her response to Dad's note was no more temperate than the curator's response. At least I was allowed to go to the Ministry with Harry. As we were leaving, McGonagall walked past us, loudly musing 'and here I had foolishly assumed that the Headmaster was responsible for the operation of Hogwarts.'

Because of the difficulties with the curator, we had arranged to meet Ellie in Harry's office, but quickly adjourned to the Muggle shop in Dad's old department. This is where Ellie was working on the second monolith – the one from Frakes' townhouse. She told us that the curator bitterly resented the two hours a day she spent in the shop, even though "I make a point of going during her nap time. She's just jealous that I have something more interesting to do than dusting. It's not as though I've allowed the collection to gather dust. I work very hard. I've always taken time during her naps to study items in the collection. I know she has misidentified at least a dozen objects, but she won't allow me to correct the labels. She says someone might notice the change and that would reflect badly upon her. She is afraid that the Ministry is going to force her to retire. Anyhow, it's my independent research, not the dusting, from which I've stolen time."

I had heard the engineer's description of the monolith from the church, but I hadn't actually seen it before today. It was more impressive than I had imagined. The surface gleamed with a mirror finish and four clear crystal cylinders protruded from the top surface.

"Of course these cylinders are very similar to the devices the magical engineers use to apply spells to an object. They are far more efficient that a wand."

She yanked out one of the three in long by about three-quarter inch cylinders and passed it around. I had to take her word for the similarity, having never watched a magical engineer at work. Harry just nodded as if he understood what she was talking about.

"The trick to these stone rectangles," Ellie informed us, "is that they can remember. You set your spells with one of these crystals and when you plug the crystal back into the stone, the stone knows what spell or charm was applied where. More than that, the stone remains in contact with the spell, as long as it is within perhaps five hundred feet of the object to which the spell was applied. You can alter the spell in that case, by directing the crystal against this stone. One stone like this can handle hundreds of spells and charms. Normally, the spell would slowly decay, but the stone keeps it fresh, at least until all of the magic within the stone is exhausted. This stone and it's partner are smaller models of the stones which control the magical barriers at the Ministry, Hogwarts, and St. Mungo's. That's why I was able to adapt one of the stones to Diagon Alley so quickly. There really is nothing different about operating this stone than operating the Ministry stone."

"But… you're so young," Ron babbled. "How did you learn this?"

"I started out to be an auror. I've taken magical engineering courses at the Ministry. Since I'm Muggle-born, I was often asked to deal with misappropriated Muggle objects. That brought me to this shop and to night duty in the control room, where the aurors monitor the Ministry defenses. I decided I liked studying things more than auror work, so I jumped at a chance to transfer to the museum. Really, everyone thought the curator would retire by now. If she wasn't able to lord it over me and had to do the dusting herself, I'm sure she would have retired. She enjoys having me to fetch her tea and biscuits."

"I don't suppose you can tell who owned these monolith stones," Harry asked her.

"No, although they could only be used by someone who knew a fair amount about magical engineering. It would take more than just the introductory course to operate these things. I would also say that the person who operated them was not as experienced as the head control room auror here. The setup of both of these stones is very simple. There is no personality that shines through and everything is from the third-level coursework. I'd guess a middling auror was the operator. I'd be very surprised if an actual magical engineer had any hand in this."

"Well, thank you for your help," Harry told her. "Be careful, I think you really are in danger."

"I am careful and I'm thankful for my auror, but I think the danger is passed. I've learned about all that I can learn from these stones and I know that I'm not going to be able to identify a specific bad guy for you. This has been exciting enough to be worth the risk."

**Original text**

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	68. Chapter 68

**Chapter Sixty-Eight – Art Club**

One day after lunch, Cissy had insisted "you won't ever get there on your own, so this afternoon I'm taking you to Professor Celine's art club. Be in our common room at 4:00. I think you'll find the experience at least interesting, and possibly enlightening."

Having generally enjoyed the few classes we had attended a week ago, Harry and I dutifully returned to the common room a few minutes before the appointed time. It wasn't that we hadn't wanted to attend the club; we just hadn't found the time.

"Cissy's been a lot more level-headed this week," Harry told me. "If she wants to share what she clearly views as a unique and interesting experience with her friends, then I think we should allow her to do so." Cissy, Ron, and Hermione were waiting for us, as we entered the common room, Cissy's expression suggesting that we were late, even though I knew we were several minutes early.

"Good, you're here. Just follow me - we want to get good seats for the club." I had thought we would go to Professor Celine's classroom, but Cissy led us up to a room in one of the towers, which I had never visited before. In answer to my thought, Harry returned {nope, I've never been here before. It is a very nice room, with windows on each of the five walls. I like the skylight too.}

Echoing his thoughts, Cissy enthused "Isn't this just the PERFECT room in which to create art and generally express your inner self?"

I was mumbling something like "it certainly does seem to be," when Cissy's exuberance drew Professor Celine's attention to us. It didn't take long to realize that in this setting, Professor Celine was transformed into Adrienne and that she was the muse, confidante, ego-booster, and leader of a band of enthusiastic female followers. A few boys also attended the club.

"Welcome, Harry," she was almost as enthusiastic as Cissy. "I'm disappointed that it took you so long to visit my club, but pleased that you brought your friends with you. I'm always happy to have guests at my club, but I warn you that I do my best to transform guests into permanent members. Cissy will show you where you can sit."

"I'd be pleased to do that, Adrienne," Cissy led us to stools near the front of the room, where we could get a good view of the Professor. I had felt few things as alien in my days at Hogwarts as witnessing a beginning third year address her Professor as 'Adrienne'. Adrienne, however, seemed quite pleased with this form of address. It would be fair to say that she was much freer and seemed a different person than when she was teaching drawing to the second years. She was looking very artistic, wearing robes in a shade of emerald green, which I had never seen before. Hers were liberally decorated with blotches of pink and purple paint. As we sat, the room began to fill with students so quickly that I appreciated what Cissy had meant about rushing if we wanted good seats. I noticed that the class consisted primarily of fifth years and up. Cissy and Margaret were the only younger students. I also noticed that there was only one boy in addition to Ron and Harry. I was doubly surprised when it registered on my brain that this other boy was Jimmy Peakes. I hadn't pegged him as the artsy sort.

"We'll be doing 'Witch Painting' today, which I'll demonstrate for all of you. First, however, I want to repeat last week's demonstration of 'Witch Metal Sculpting' for our guests. As I told Harry, when he kindly bought all of these art supplies which you use in the club, it is possible for a creative Witch, or even a Wizard who has managed to stay in touch with his feminine side, to visualize a finished sculpture, down to the finest detail, and then to simply will it into existence, by transfiguring an appropriately sized pile of metal. It is a technique that I developed myself from what I learned in Professor McGonagall's advanced transfiguration class. Over the years, Minerva has worked with me to refine this new art form. I assure you this is far superior to Goblin techniques.

Now, we start with this pile of scrap brass. Since my last demonstration, I've been rolling around in my brain the image of two particularly cute and noble cats, whom I've seen about your school. I believe their names are Mrs. Norris and Cruikshanks. I've melded their essential natures in my mind, up-sized them to match my pile of scrap, and created the idealized creature, which I call 'CAT'. Having said that, she flicked her wand and the pile of scrap was transformed into a three-foot long brass cat. The cat's 'fur' was even mottled with darker spots to give the sense of both fur coloration and shadow. The finished product was a cat with real personality. I could see the rippling muscles as if it was preparing to pounce, as well as the evident pride, loyalty, and intelligence, and the capacity to be truly annoying which we associated with both Mrs. Norris and, except for Hermione, with Cruikshanks.

"That's, that's just simply amazing," Harry remarked. "To just transform a pile of junk into something this beautiful and expressive with a flick of a wand is not something I would have thought possible."

"It's something that you all can do. The 'trick', if you want to call it that, and the really time consuming part, is visualizing what you want the final product to look like, and fixing that in your mind as you progressively add more and more fine detail. The only difference between this and transfiguration is that you're making something that has never existed before and which has emotional meaning to you and represents your deepest feelings about yourself or something in your world. You can all unlock the ability to do this. The only real limitation is what you refuse to allow yourself to believe that you can accomplish. The headmaster told me how readily Ginny manipulated her desk. If she can do that, she can do Witch metal sculpting. So can each one of you. But we'll be taking that up again next week, for now I want to introduce you to the concept of Witch painting.

"Like the greatest of Muggle painters, we begin with a blank canvas and some pots of oil paint. The difference between Muggle painting and Witch painting is how the paint travels from the pot to the canvas. Basically, to the extent that you know where you want each color of paint to go on the canvas, you just fix it in your mind, and then you put it there. You don't need to visualize the finished product in all its minute detail, however. Put on what you visualize at first. You can go back and add more paint on top of what you started with, or even move it around with your mind. I'll start with a rough impression of Harry Potter here, but as I see him, which means I emphasize his feminine side. Minerva tells me that Harry carries a lot of his mother inside of him. So, 'art!' It may seem presumptuous to label my spell 'art', but you'll have to forgive me, it just somehow appeals to me and seems – right."

I noticed that a reasonable, but very stylized image of Harry had appeared on her canvas.

"I can add more detail and refinement – 'improve' – that just seems like the right spell name to me, as well. If I've gotten things a little bit wrong, say I don't quite like Harry's nose, I can just move the wet paint with my mind. If it were dry, I'd have to add paint on top of the dry paint or perform a transfiguration to change it, but it's easier to just shove the wet paint a fraction of an inch, using the force of my mind. It is really liberating to exercise such power over nature and to capture as complex and fascinating an individual as Harry, and in exactly the way that I see him. A little more paint – 'improve!' and I'm almost finished. I don't quite like the color of Harry's eyes, so I'm going to add a little more blue to the mix. 'Voila'. If I want, I can mix up a blended pot of paint to just the color that I desire, or I can do it in the air, like this. Let's say I want Harry standing against a light green background. All this white canvas around him is kind of annoying, don't you think. I take some blue and mix in some yellow and a little white to pale it out a bit, see how I have a sphere of pure light green. Add just a touch of black to mute it a bit; I think I've got what I want. Now I focus on what I've painted and this background color goes everywhere else, 'improve'.

"That was actually the hard way. Normally, I'd first just cover the blank canvas in my background color and leave it to dry for a day, but this way was so much more dramatic, don't you think. In any event, I would normally advise sealing the canvas with white and giving it a day to dry, before painting. You might want to white a couple extra canvasses at the end of class to have something to work with next time. That's what I call a 'come back commitment' to try to leash Harry to this class. I like this painting enough to add my signature at the bottom, 'voila', I give you the real Harry Potter. This guy sitting before you is simply the shell that he walks around in."

The class broke into raucous applause, something I hadn't previously observed in a Hogwarts classroom, but then this was officially a club, not a class.

I had glanced over at Harry and that last comment snapped my eyes back to the canvas, fearful that Harry had lost his robes in that final iteration. I was pleased to see that his image was still fully clothed, yet in a way more naked than if he had been in the altogether. It was definitely Harry, but a little different than the way in which I saw Harry, but close enough that I recognized the painting as at least part of the essence of Harry.

We tried our wands at painting. I decided that I would paint Harry, working from Adrienne's painting, which was still sitting on an easel just five feet in front of me. I really didn't like the green background and decided to switch it to a dramatic midnight blue. I started with Adrienne's portrait of Harry and fixed that in my mind. The shapes and proportions all seemed right, so like mental tracing, I took Adrienne's Harry figure and using it as the outline for my painting threw white paint onto the canvas to cover the outline. As I waited for this to dry, I mixed my midnight blue out of paint from the blue and black pot, forming a slowly rotating ball in front of my canvas. I focused on the sections of canvas outside the boundary of the white paint and gently applied paint from my rotating ball. I didn't like the uniform background, so I added more black to the paint already on the canvas, as I moved away from the white, until the very edge at one corner of the canvas was almost black. As I sat back waiting for this to dry a little, I took two other canvasses and whited them. I used my wand to bathe all three canvasses in a fairly stiff breeze of warm dry air. As I looked at 'outline Harry', I couldn't help but think of King Goblanze's masterpiece as I vowed to myself that the background would not be the only difference between my painting and Adrienne's.

Next, I examined what I disagreed with in her vision. What did I see in Harry that she hadn't included? More importantly, what had she included, which I had never seen as a part of his person? Was that something that I had missed or something that she had merely imagined? I noted that in her portrait, Harry's scar was barely visible and what little of it remained was largely covered by falling locks of hair. I had noticed the prominent scar missing from her portrait, but how big a piece of Harry did that scar really represent to me? It reminded me of his mother's sacrifice and all of her that Harry carried with him. There was a little of Harry's mother in Adrienne's portrait. It was a softer portrayal than what I expected for a portrait of a Wizard, with all the angularity removed from the face.

Thinking of the problems Mrs. Granger and I were working through with Harry; it was like Professor Celine had morphed the boy who lived into an almost adult Wizard who couldn't kill. Not that this was a bad thing. Her portrait was also slightly effeminate and I certainly did not see Harry in that way - not at all. I added both a little more of what I remembered of his mother's picture and a little of the recklessness of his father. My vision definitely had a strong feminine aspect, but more strength and reckless daring than in Adrienne's portrait. Still, I allowed the shyness to creep into his expression. I smiled and flicked my wand. I looked at the canvas on my easel, did several 'improve's, especially around the mouth, and I saw the basics of my darling Harry.

Just as I did this, I heard "that's really very good. I think it's better than mine, but then you know Harry better than I do. You have a talent. I hope to see you here next week."

"I know that I couldn't have done as well from scratch," I admitted. "I tried to memorize your painting and then decide what I didn't feel was true about it and what parts of Harry were missing. It was easy to make the modifications. You see Harry a little differently than I do."

Harry had returned the favor, painting a portrait of me. If King Goblanze could look at Harry's easel, he would have said he saw the fierce warrior that he knew me to be, but something more than that. I was pleased that Harry saw great warmth in my aspect and I thought intelligence and some wisdom as well. It is strange to say, but I could tell just looking at the painting that the artist was very much in love with me. Fortunately the painting lacked the dark mood which had caused me to challenge Dad and to feud with McGonagall.

I looked at Hermione's and Ron's paintings and found them to be not quite as crisply focused as our two. You could certainly recognize both subjects and see familiar characteristics and mannerisms portrayed, but they didn't seem to fully capture the essence of their subjects. Professor Celine shared my view. She said that the difference possibly reflected a slight difference in ability of the artist, but more likely meant that Ron's and Hermione's personas were more in flux than Harry's and mine and that they were still involved in fully understanding their partner. There was something a little discordant in each of the portraits, as if the artist loved and almost understood the subject, but had recently found an unsettling personality aspect that was not yet fully understood or accepted. In contrast to my portrait of Harry, Hermione's portrait showed a young Wizard who could lash out and kill.

"In addition to my art, I also do marriage counseling in the Muggle world," Adrienne tossed out a seeming non sequitur. "Witches have the ability to tap into the feelings of others that Muggle psychologists lack. I mention this only because I have often felt that this style of Witch portraiture would be a great jumping off point for marriage counseling sessions. If I stay in this world, I may well pursue that."

We promised to return for another art club, which apparently was in three days. Professor Celine walked with us to the Great Hall, I say Professor Celine, because 'Adrienne' started to slip away as soon as we crossed the threshold of her studio. We moved quickly as we were already late for dinner.

"I must congratulate Ron and Harry for daring to attend my club. As you can see, not many Wizards have ventured into my little domain. Mr. Peakes is the exception to my rule that Wizards who are a part of a strong couple seem more comfortable with me. I think a good Witch civilizes them. In that regard, I'm hoping that you might encourage Draco and Pansy to try my club. From everything that Minerva has told me, I think Draco may be the most intriguing Wizard in this school - I would just love to see what sort of portraits he paints of Pansy and his mother. A portrait of Lucius also would likely not be dull, but I REALLY want to see the portrait he paints of his mother."

Draco had been remarkably friendly this term, especially since Professor McGonagall had moved his mother into her own apartment, but in the back of Harry's and my minds, Draco would always be a Malfoy. I was less concerned with how Draco got along with his mother than I was about how his presence affected Harry's safety. I was much more worried than the boys to have Draco now bunking in the same dorm room as Harry and my brothers. I asked Bill how he could allow that to occur, it being in my mind at least, by far the greatest threat to Harry. That at least prompted Bill to bunk in with the four of them.

Neither of my brothers was pleased that I had precipitated this change in sleeping arrangements, although Harry was so used to Bill's presence, that he didn't seem to mind at all. The change certainly made me feel safer, as did Barb bunking with Hermione, Luna, and me after Pansy was added as our roommate.

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	69. Chapter 69

**Chapter Sixty-Nine – I Guess This Is My Normal Life**

By the end of Saturday, all of our homework was finished, despite us all going in to the Ministry for a half a day. This time we were checking on Shacklebolt's progress in determining how to slay the Voldemort ghost. We met with him for two hours, which was a long time for him to report that he had made no progress. All Shacklebolt had to recommend was continuing to keep Slytherin vacant, even telling the house Elves to stay away and just let the dust build up, and minimizing Hagrid's time in the castle. Hagrid was very obliging in this regard. Since his classes were taught outdoors, he had only entered the castle for the opening dinner and breakfast and one staff meeting.

Shacklebolt told us that this arrangement need only be temporary. The ghost itself posed no risk, according to him, but he didn't want its presence to be discovered while Thicknesse and Barty Crouch were still at large, lest it serve as a rallying point. He swore that there was no possible way of re-corporealizing Voldemort from this diminished ghost: "I love Hagrid, but if I thought there was any risk at all of a re-born Voldemort, I'd kill Hagrid myself. You should know that I did take the precaution of digging up and disposing of the bones of Voldemort's father. Since he supposedly was a hidden Wizard, I gave them a proper reburial. I replaced them with hyena bones, which should be a nasty surprise to any Death Eaters tempted to engage in necromancy."

When we left our meeting with Shacklebolt, I was surprised to see Percy in earnest conversation with Ellie and standing so close to her, that they were practically touching. I asked Harry, "Does Percy have a girlfriend?"

"I really don't think so," Harry replied. "Percy is doing some research on prophecies and apparently Ellie is the keeper and logger-in of the little glass globes with the prophecies. I've been thinking a lot about our new prophecies and wondered if they were now stored in the Department of Mysteries and if so, how they had arrived there. I've also always wondered why we were lured to the Ministry so that I could claim my prophecy for Malfoy to steal. It wasn't ever even one-hundred percent certain that the prophecy referred to me, rather than Neville. It was always one-hundred percent certain that it referred to Voldemort, yet the globe bore only my name. Why was that and why couldn't Voldemort just reclaim his prophecy himself. I've also wondered whether it was saved at the Ministry by Dumbledore, or Snape, or Trelawney, or even if one of the other magical species delivered it. There's an awful lot we don't know, when you stop and think about it."

"That's true, Harry," I replied "and I certainly should have thought of those questions. But why send Percy on that errand. I'd thought it more natural to visit Ellie ourselves. I'd like to see her again."

"So would I," Harry admitted. "I was busy and I mentioned my curiosity at a meeting with Percy and Cotto. Percy said he'd be happy to check with Ellie on the matter and I just told him to go ahead."

"I was right, Percy does have a girlfriend."

We had dinner with Dad before returning to Hogwarts after dinner. Dad was calmer and in a better humor than when last I had seen him, although I had phoned him and apologized after Mom had talked to me, reminding me both of how much stress Dad was under and how that level of stress could greatly lower an adult's tolerance of smart-alecky kids. Malcolm Frakes had broken two more scoops. Although the scoops were only very mildly embarrassing to Dad, they did rely upon information that should have been secret. Dad had been saving them for a big splashy press conference.

The situation with the Prophet was somewhat better. Harry had kept his end of the bargain and given several lengthy interviews to Ernie, which had somewhat slaked Barnabas Cuffe's hunger for fresh scoops and also provided some positive press. Harry had given Ernie detailed insight into his plans for the new young wizards' loan agency, and that article had sparked more discussion than anything either Prophet had printed in quite some time. The younger Wizards were very enthusiastic about the proposal, but a lot of older Wizards had expressed objections ranging from 'I always hoped John would replace me in the family trade' to 'you can't trust youngsters with a pile of galleons' and 'who would be dumb enough to invest in something like that – oh, yes Potter said he planned to invest'. Ernie had gotten a long second article just listing all of the comments that readers had sent in. The owl population had gotten a good workout that week.

Since Harry and Hermione split the tab, we went to the same Muggle restaurant where we had previously dined with Shacklebolt. Shacklebolt seemed to really enjoy a return to his formerly favorite restaurant. We drank enough sherry at the restaurant that we just sank into chairs by the fireplace when we got back to the common room, happily chatting about the food and all manner of things of little importance. The most serious discussion was Hermione's plea that the Ministry be searched yet again for listening devices and that she be able to participate in the search, using some Muggle devices which she had purchased.

Dad seemed not overly pleased with the suggestion, but agreed. Harry led Dad through a list of attendees who were present at all of the meetings at which any of the leaked information was discussed, reminding Dad (and getting an exasperated look in return) that a topic might have been discussed more than once, possibly not always in his presence, so that a person being missing from the main meeting was not proof of innocence. Harry commented that Madam Bones seemed to have been present at quite a few of the meetings from which information had leaked. He also commented that it didn't seem like her presence had been necessary at all of those meetings.

Dad wrapped up this discussion with a comment that "I like to keep the whole team read in on what's going on as much as possible. That's just my natural style. In the current circumstances, I'll reduce meeting attendees. That will sometimes include your absence Percy, and I'll remind attendees to be very careful and to keep a record of whom they mention the meetings to. Now can we please pick another topic?" The rest of the discussion was all about what the family was doing and what funny things had happened to all of us. The dinner ended on a very happy note.

I was quite tired, when we finally dragged ourselves off to bed. Chats in the dorm room were always so superficial as to be not worth having, since in addition to bunking with Hermione and Luna, I had to share the room with Pansy. Ron and Harry were equally inhibited by the presence of Draco in their room, although George delighted in starting outrageous conversations about past embarrassments of Slytherin House and certain Great Families, simply to irritate Draco. In any event, after a few murmured words to Hermione, I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, despite Pansy's seemingly intense desire to have an extended conversation with Luna. No sooner had I fallen asleep, than I was being shaken awake by Luna who reported, "We heard screams from the younger girls' bathroom. Hermione has gone to investigate."

I snapped into instant alertness, grabbing my wand and following Luna and Pansy into the bathroom. We had to fight our way through a small mob of the younger girls, who had gathered outside the door, too interested to stay in their rooms, but too frightened to actually open the bathroom door. It was strange seeing Hermione's Mom among the 'younger girls'. When I managed to get inside the door, I found Hermione patiently conversing with Margaret, Alice, Cissy, and a first year named Gwenogg. Hermione was talking to them in the tone of voice usually reserved for frightened two-year olds, while the younger girls were mostly just nodding their heads as they huddled up against each other. Three of the girls were in their pajamas, while Cissy's plump torso was covered by a wet towel and her hair was dripping. "What happened?" I demanded.

"I came in to have a quick bath," Cissy replied "and was just lolling in my bubble bath, when Alex appeared and sat down on the side of the tub to chat with me. I would have happily talked with him, but it just surprised me so much to find a boy sitting on the edge of the bath that I screamed, before I even thought what I was doing."

"Fortunately, she had lots of bubbles in the bath," Gwenogg assured us.

"So, where could Alex have gone?" Luna reasonably asked the girls.

"I don't know," Cissy lamented "I frightened him away. He ducked into the fourth stall and just vanished. I checked the stall, but it was empty. I'm just afraid that I startled him so badly, that I won't ever see him again."

"You can't apparate from inside Hogwarts," Hermione informed the girls, "so he couldn't simply vanish. Are you certain you didn't just doze off in the warm bath and imagine him? Perhaps you fell asleep and your head started to slip under the water and that shocked you awake and so you screamed".

"No, I'm sure he was real. I know the difference between dreaming and reality. I don't know where he could have gone, but you know as well as I that there are secret passages all over Hogwarts."

Gwenogg volunteered her support for Cissy's position. "I was in the second stall and heard the fourth stall door bang, right after Cissy screamed. Then I heard sort of a scraping sound. That could have been a secret panel opening."

"I doubt it," Hermione replied. "I'll check out the stall, but I doubt it leads to a secret passage."

Alice volunteered "I was in the third stall and I heard the same thing as Gwenogg." Margaret nodded in confirmation of the other girls' stories.

Hermione checked the stall carefully, knowing the sort of ring access points to look for, but came out of the stall with an expression that said 'mass hysteria', although her word were "I couldn't find anything, but I'll check it out later with the magical force detector. If there is a secret passage, the detector should find it."

I didn't think I'd be able to return to sleep, so I headed down the stairs to the common room, where a lot of boys were waiting to find out what happened. I just turned to Harry and whispered {{Cissy saw Alex again.}}

Hermione, who had followed me down, announced to the twenty boys in the common room "I think it was likely just a bad dream, when a young student dozed off in the bath. There's no danger, you should all go back to bed".

As nobody was moving, I added, "Really, there is nothing to be concerned about, go back to bed." Harry pointed them toward the boys' stairs and they reluctantly drifted away from us.

Neville insisted upon the full explanation, which Hermione supplied. By that time, Cissy had dressed and come down stairs, declaring "I'm sort of afraid to go back to bed. Can I just stay here with you for a little while?" A half hour later, she seemed comforted and returned to her dorm room.

As she walked away, Neville whispered to Harry, "I think we should get that girl checked out in the infirmary. There's something not entirely right about her."

"She seemed to be doing much better," Harry lamented.

"I don't know," Hermione replied. "Did you see the painting she brought back from art club? She drew Alex. Wait here, I'll go borrow it and show it to you."

I exchanged raised eyebrows and worried glances with Harry and Neville. Ron just shrugged his shoulders, as if to say that we should humor Hermione. She was soon coming down the stairs, carrying the canvas that Cissy had produced. "He looks like a movie star!" Hermione proclaimed in exasperation, and not the sort of young, cute, barely masculine, unthreatening sort that young girls usually develop crushes on."

I had to agree with Hermione. Alex looked like he might be in his early twenties and had the look of the experienced and somewhat dangerous rogue about him - all long, wavy, hair, big crystal blue eyes staring right at the viewer, and a knowing smile that promised all sorts of mischief. He was wearing tight fitting pajamas of the same midnight blue which I had put into Harry's portrait. More to the point, this was not a hazy image from a dream but a portrait in almost photographic detail. If it captured Alex's soul, then his soul tended to the vapid. Clearly Cissy was drawn to older boys. I couldn't blame Cissy for screaming, if I had looked up and seen this guy seated on the edge of my bath, the first words out of my mouth would have begun with 'Avada'.

"At least we know who to be on the lookout for," was all that I said. Privately I leaned more toward Neville's view than Harry's. Cissy might benefit from a professional examination.

Needless to say I was quite sleepy and low-energy the next morning. I tried a high-sugar breakfast, loading so much strawberry jam onto my croissants that it kept running down my hand and dripping on the table. I caught Hermione staring at me as I licked the drippy jam off the side of my hand. A last swig of orange juice and it was off to class. At least I got to start with herbology. Harry and I enjoyed attending Neville's classes. Neville was a little self-conscious when he lectured, but he put in so much time in preparation that we always learned a lot, and we didn't have to worry about the howling mandrakes or dangerous carnivorous plants with which Professor Sprout had delighted in confronting us.

It appeared that this term Professors Sprout and Longbottom were traveling in tandem, with Neville determined to teach us all about the care and cultivation of those plants that a typical Wizard family would grow in its kitchen garden, with enough herbs and exotic spices thrown in to satisfy the most demanding Wizard gourmand. Many of these herbs and spices were intended to do double duty in Professor Sprout's potions class. The quality of the Hogwarts' greenhouses allowed the cultivation of even tropical plants, so we produced our own vanilla, chili peppers, Malabar pepper, chocolate, tea, and coffee.

While I would have rebelled at being taught such domestic skills during the time of the Voldemort terrors, I now found myself looking forward to a time when Harry and I would tend to our own household and I would satisfy all of my foodie cravings with items raised, grown, and cooked by myself. My mother's fare, but with added spices and herbs. And crab cakes of my own making. I had developed quite a taste for crab cakes. That craving was about the only thing making me truly grateful that Harry had more money than my parents. I loved my family and Mom's cooking, but she had never served us crab or lobster or chateaubriand. Having Harry as my partner in potions and herbology classes didn't hurt my disposition, although sometimes we swapped partners so that Ron and Harry had a chance to chat privately, while I worked with Hermione. I got the definite sense that Hermione was a little concerned by the intensity of my interest in food.

Hermione also discussed house design and construction. Hermione and Ron had decided to build a house next to ours, since we were now planning a joint wedding right after the term ended. Harry had decided that the hundred acres that he had been reserving in the back of his mind for bumping the Elf and Goblin sanctuaries up in size would better be used to provide buffer area between their sanctuaries and our hundred acre homestead, so that if we had to entertain Muggles, the sanctuaries would be shielded by forest. At other times, the Elves and Goblins could treat the land as an extension of the sanctuaries. Without the need to count buffer space, Harry decided that we really had no use for a hundred acres and could readily give half the land to Ron and Hermione.

That had immediately launched Hermione on the path of researching house designs that Wizards, Elves and Goblins could build. She took this particular potions class to convince me that we really should install solar cells on the roofs of our houses, so that we could have electricity without hooking up to a Muggle grid, and also avoid depending on a portable generator. "I really am willing to give up most of my old Muggle comforts, and the Muggle habits are largely forgotten, but the Hogwarts life really hasn't provided a fully satisfactory night-time reading experience."

Harry had already decided to give up on traditional Wizarding ways to the extent of putting in central heating and piped hot water, using a wood-burning furnace. He was adamant that we not have air conditioning. "It's unnatural, and this is Scotland, how hot does it get?" he argued. I didn't require much convincing. I didn't want to emulate Lord Montaigne. After all, Witches can charm open windows to screen out midges.

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	70. Chapter 70

**Chapter Seventy – Firenze's Tail**

After our next Advanced Divination class, Professor Firenze asked us to linger as the other students dispersed. "I need a favor," he informed us. "It requires a lot of computational power to calculate the motions of the celestial bodies, which I track to chart the future. The paths are fairly simple ellipses and hyperbolas, but they are viewed, intersect, and tell their tales in three dimensions, making the plotting very difficult. At present, I am using a pod of thirteen whales near the Aleutian Islands as my mathematical engine. They are always under threat from whalers and I need to apparate there a couple times a week to look after them.

"I'd like to train you to find them, so that you could help me protect them. It would be wonderful if there were a whale preserve, but there isn't. I can hear the whales' pleas for help from this great distance: they are powerful telepaths for those who are correctly attuned to their signals. Since you have trained as Keepers and assistants, I thought you might be attuned to my whales. It's worth a try and is an integral part of your training. If this works, you will know the destination to which you should apparate and will be able to hear my whales' calls and come to their rescue, if my duties render me unavailable. With the conflux of so many portents, I find myself having to travel more and more. The whales broadcast their signals to this general location and if I were away when they called for help, they might perish.

"I am sorry to impose upon those as young as yourselves for such a difficult task, but I have nowhere else to turn. I am the only Centaur who is able to hear the whale song. Even Bane cannot hear them and that is unusual for one in his position. Don't mention this to him, he is very proud and sees this as a great failing and source of shame. He has the ring, but it does not give him this power. Dumbledore helped me, but I can't see Headmaster McGonagall riding her broom to the rescue of my whales, so it must be you."

We agreed that we would help him save his whales, to the best of our abilities. Firenze said he could ask for nothing more than that and requested that we summon our brooms. When we each had our brooms, Firenze walked with us to the forbidden forest, asked each of us to put a hand on his tail, taking a good hold of a tuft of his hair, and then, well then we were falling through a bottomless hole of the sort that had led us to Hermione's parents' house in Australia.

I was startled when we 'arrived' several hundred feet in the air, over open ocean, with some ice covered islands barely discernable miles to our north. I mounted my broom, as did my traveling companions, although Cissy was having so much difficulty that Harry and I swooped down to grab and support her, trying to haul her astride her broom. Perhaps it was the surprise of our midair destination or just a fear of such a great height, but she did not seem able to fly her broom without the two of us steadying her from either side.

Finally, Harry signaled me {[exasperation and disappointment] this isn't working. We shouldn't have allowed Firenze to bring Cissy on this trip. Even with our training, she is still not adept on her broom. Let's see if we can get her onto Firenze's back.}

We helped guide Cissy higher, until we were flying alongside Firenze. Harry asked if it would be acceptable to transfer Cissy to his back and Firenze nodded that this would be fine. It was some tricky maneuvering, but after a few minutes and several attempts, including Cissy sliding off his back and my having to arrest her fall in mid-air until Harry could fly under her and support her. It was a strange sight seeing Harry, completely hunched over parallel to his broom and carrying Cissy's broom in his left hand, flying parallel to and almost touching Firenze, as Cissy stepped on Harry's back to climb up onto Firenze as I flew overhead, with a down-stretched hand to steady her. In retrospect, it was a truly spectacular feat. I'm not sure how we accomplished it, or if we could repeat it.

After this maneuver was completed, Firenze motioned to us all to fly in a pattern surrounding him, as he homed in on the whales' signal. When we were flying directly above the pod, Firenze told us to concentrate, using his own telepathic powers to guide our minds to the correct signal frequency. Even with Firenze's assistance, most of us could not hear the whales. Only Luna and I were able to hear them on this attempt. Firenze apologized, saying he should have warned us to wear our rings. Harry told the others that he did not want them to risk losing a ring, by trying to put it on their finger in midair. So…. after some debate between Harry and Firenze, we left that part of the lesson at that point.

The next exercise involved our group flying away from the whales as Luna and I tried to maintain contact. We were about two miles away when Luna admitted that she had lost contact. I was still hearing the whales' message loud and clear. I then heard Harry interrupting the whales.

{[curious] I'm going to fly as close alongside you as I can. Try to transmit what you are hearing from the whales to me. No, that's not working. Hold out your hand.}

Harry and I were flying side by side, with our hands clasped, as I concentrated furiously both upon remaining locked onto the frequency of the whales' signal and trying to resend what I was hearing to Harry.

{[elated] That's a really soothing tone and cadence in their speech. I can't understand what they are saying. I'm going to focus a little harder on the whales' message and then release your hand and see if I can maintain the signal.}

Harry dropped my hand and did a 180 on his broom, flying back toward the whale pod and decreasing altitude as he went. He was just fading from view as I thought I saw his arm raised in a signal of success. Seeing Harry disappear, Firenze signaled that we should double back to keep him in sight, in case he encountered a problem. We were soon flying close to Harry and only about forty feet above the water. Firenze signaled for our attention. "This is very important. Each of us is going to apparate back to Hogwarts on our own, if you feel capable of doing so. We'll aim for the open ground outside the main entrance to the grounds. What you need to know is that, since we are flying at a fairly good rate of speed, that you will be moving at that speed when you arrive back at Hogwarts. Since you may get disoriented, or even turned upside down in transit, it is necessary to apparate to a reasonable distance, say three hundred feet above the ground. We should space ourselves farther apart and try to apparate in the same configuration around an agreed upon point. Can you all picture the big shrub that is about fifty feet outside the gate and another fifty feet north of the path? Good! I want you to all spread out in a straight line on either side of me, about thirty feet apart. When we apparate, think of me as being exactly three hundred feet directly above the center of that bush. Is there anyone who doesn't think they can do this?"

"I haven't learned how to apparate," Cissy told him.

"That's fine. You're staying right on my back. The rest of you are going to assume your proper spacing, when I finish giving instructions. I'm going to signal like this… one, two, three … with both of my arms. When I hit three, that is at the instant my arms cross the plane of my shoulders, we all apparate. When you arrive, first thing is orient yourself and make sure you're not about to fly into a friend. Second thing, look for a friend in trouble, who you can help. Now take your positions."

I flew out wide on Firenze's right, equally spaced between Firenze and Harry. We must have soon all been in proper formation, because Firenze started to signal: one, two, three and I was falling again, clutching my broom as tightly as I could between my thighs and with both hands on the stick.

I reentered Hogwarts airspace flying upside down and headed toward the tracks. It took a few seconds to right myself and then I looked around to see how my chums were doing. Harry and Luna beyond him were fine. On the other side of Firenze, Hermione was still upside down and losing altitude. Both Harry and I swooped in a descending arc, to converge on her position. We flew close enough that we could each grab a shoulder and attempt to rotate her. We then tried to get her back on her broom. When this wasn't working, Harry spoke to her soothingly, "don't worry, we'll just fly slower and hold onto you as we all glide down to the ground. Remember, as we get to a low speed, you can apparate to a few feet above the ground and land running. We'll hold you upright. We've got your arms. Just keep a grip on your broom".

At this point, we were perhaps a hundred feet in the air and traveling close to forty miles an hour. It was several long minutes until we had guided Hermione to a point ten feet above level ground and a speed of only several miles an hour. "Just a little slower and lower and then we land," Harry reassured Hermione. "Your feet are eight feet off the ground, six, four, two, now." We released her and pulled to the side and up as Hermione's feet touched the ground as she was moving at just a walking pace. She stumbled forward and lost her broom, which Ron retrieved for her, but she was unhurt. We all landed beside her and Ron gave her a big comfort hug to quiet her shaking and her frightened sobs. Harry rubbed her left shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Hermione cried. "I read how to do that and thought that I could pull it off. Apparating upside down just really frightened me and then I couldn't pull myself back up onto my broom. I must have fallen a hundred feet, before you rescued me."

"I apologize," Firenze told her. "That was much too demanding for a first attempt. I'm just thankful that you're alright."

We dragged our tired bodies back to the common room. Even after all that excitement, I was still able to focus and hear the whales. We had no sooner gotten past the fat lady, than Hermione collapsed into the nearest chair, her head in her hands and wracked with sobs. I thought it was a continuation of the natural reaction she had experienced to nearly being killed, but as she gave voice to her feelings, it clearly went far deeper.

"I'm such a failure. I was the only one who couldn't do that and I nearly got Harry and Ginny killed, trying to save me. You should leave me behind on your adventures. I just can't pull my weight. I'm not fit for anything but a library." Hermione's mother watched from the stairs for a minute, but seemed to know better than to rush to Hermione and, after viewing the scene for a few moments, returned to her dorm room.

Ron put his arms around Hermione and whispered, "You know that's not true. We all value your contributions," but Hermione kept sobbing as uncontrollably as before. Ron looked worried and at a loss for what to say to comfort her.

Harry sat in front of Hermione and lifted her chin with his hands, so that he could look into her eyes. "You know we're a team, Hermione. We help each other to the best of our individual abilities, and we have always been there for each other when help was needed. We couldn't have accomplished much of anything without your help. You're the best person that I know and nobody could ask for a better friend. You've gotten me out of so many scrapes. Dumbledore and McGonagall wanted us to be a team, because they knew that we're stronger when we're all together. Dumbledore was the most powerful Wizard of all time and he taught me to never fight your way out of a problem that you can possibly think your way out of. You follow that philosophy better than any of us. We're better than you are at the physical fighting stuff, but you're better than you give yourself credit. How many Witches can ever claim to have killed a Giant? I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. You've had a serious shock and it's natural to feel a little self-doubt."

"You and Ron could have done most of what you've done without me. Ginny would have helped you."

"You know that's not true. Most of the time we wouldn't have any idea what to do. The best thing our new administration has done has been to free the Elves. That was your idea. I'm proud of my part in accomplishing it, but it never would have crossed my mind, if not for you."

"Even Dumbledore said he counted on me to slow you down."

"And he knew how necessary that was. Without you, I would have rushed into too many scrapes without thinking and died for no good reason. I would have used the Hallows in the wrong way and turned into a bad person and never defeated Voldemort. Without the horcruxes that you and Ron destroyed, I never could have killed Voldemort."

"That was Ron."

"You know that's not true," Ron told her, still rubbing her back.

"Dumbledore also told Neville that he was counting on him to slow me down," Harry continued. "You know how much Dumbledore thought of Neville. He picked him as his ultimate successor, not me or Ron."

"I know that, it just feels that I'm only suitable to be a librarian, while the rest of you go about your adventures. Ginny can keep up with you and Ron. I can't. I'm just not physically able to."

"You've always kept up with us. This was your first failure. You never played Quidditch, so you're not as handy with a broom as the rest of us are. We'll practice that together and you'll improve. You've never faced an obstacle that you haven't been able to overcome."

"Alright," she replied, her sobs slowly coming to an end. At this point, Ron looked away from Hermione at a crowd of first and second years who had gathered to see what was happening and shouted, "What are you looking at? Do I have to chase you away?"

"It's alright," Hermione told Ron. "Don't frighten the first years, they're just trying to help. I think perhaps now is the time to show the rest of you the note that Dumbledore left for me. I didn't want to show it before, because I didn't believe what he wrote. I'll go up to my room and get it."

As Hermione got up to retrieve the note, I saw that Harry was steadying a first-year boy with a pat on his head. Ron, looking sheepish, told the first years "ignore what I said. I was upset. I'm not really angry with you. I know you were concerned about Hermione. Sometimes, we just need a little more privacy than a dorm provides."

Hermione had returned and handed the note to Harry.

Hermione,

I know that I was closer to Harry than I was to you, but that doesn't mean that I thought any less of you. You should know that I, and most of the professors, think that you are the best student we've ever taught. Your love of learning and your innate goodness, loyalty, and bravery are an example to your elders, who have forgotten some of what it feels like to learn things for the first time, to see a better world than the one in which we live, and to consider our world infinitely perfectible. I would have provided more guidance to you as your headmaster, but I never felt you needed my guidance and I am not always competent or confident in dealing with Witches. Professor McGonagall perplexed me from the moment we met, although I always knew her as the truest of allies. I am confident that you will make much of your life. You are the indispensable member of the team that I leave behind to replace the Order.

You are indispensable, because you are the thinking part of the team, the part that holds the team together when it would otherwise fall apart, and the part that can provide the necessary vision for the future. I hope that you enjoy the Tales of Beedle the Bard as much as I did. As you can tell, I have read it many times and always find wisdom in its pages. Yes, there was a clue hidden in the book. I know you found the clue, but hope you have also seen that the book itself can provide guidance. I know that you will be excellent as a companion to your friends, as a wife, a mother, a scholar, and a brave body who rushes to the barricades when danger is at hand.

I also know that you underestimate your abilities as a leader. I could always tell when students were maturing, when they tired of Quidditch. I never did, but then I saw myself as the world's oldest child. You were already mature when you arrived at Hogwarts, but were always a good sport about the Quidditch frenzy. I don't need a prophecy to know that you will make a very good and very just Minister of Magic or head of the Wizengamot. You could certainly be a revered Hogwarts professor, in the mold of Professor McGonagall, but I am counting on you for more than that. If I didn't feel Neville was so suited for the role, you would be my choice to succeed me. It is fine if you elect that path, you mustn't be bounded by an old Wizard's expectations.

Finally, I have one last gift to bequeath to you. Let Fawkes be both an inspiration and a helper to you, as he was to me. He needs a period of time to grieve my passing. You will know when the time is right to summon him and Firenze or Bane can teach you how you must do it. I always liked Cruikshanks, but felt you better suited by a phoenix. All of my love,

Albus Dumbledore

"I've reread the book a half dozen times, but haven't seen any wisdom to guide my life. I think the time has come for me to acquire Fawkes. I'll speak to Professor Firenze after our astronomy class tonight," Hermione informed us.

"I'm glad you feel better," Ron told her. "I've learned yet again that I have a distressing tendency to take out my frustrations on innocent little children. I may find the courage to show you my Dumbledore note, sometimes in the next few days. It's a little embarrassing. If you don't need the office, Harry, I think Hermione and I'll help you with your constituent service."

"That's fine," Harry replied, "I'm just going to sit here awhile, before dinner." I was disappointed, but unsurprised, when Harry said we wouldn't be needing the office. It had been over a week since we had made use of it.

I relaxed in a chair next to Harry, still listening to the song of the whale pod. It was very relaxing. I suggested that Harry put on his ring and see if he could pick up their song. He slipped the ring out of his pocket and placed it on his ring finger. To prime his reception, he leaned close to me to eavesdrop on the song. I could tell he was hearing the whales, both by the pulse of satisfaction flowing from him, but also because he was gradually moving away from me. He finally stood up and strode to the other side of the common room. He seemed to still be picking up the signal.

I could sense the tension in Hermione's body throughout our astronomy lesson. She followed Professor Firenze's instructions, gazing at the assigned targets through her telescope and sketching what she saw on a pad of paper in her lap. Coordinating the darkness required for work with the telescopes, with the minimum light levels needed to draw accurately, especially with half a dozen of us working at the same time, was quite a balancing act. Hermione had managed to use her graphite pencil as a substitute wand, making its tip light up faintly to show the way for the graphite to follow. I had a very dimly lit wand lying on my pad of paper. Harry preferred to go off in a corner of the astronomy tower, as far as he could get from the rest of us, and alternate between several minutes of intense observation and memorization of what he was seeing, with a short burst of drawing, using his lit wand to see clearly and his body to shield the rest of us from the light he was making. We still were exposed to the light he produced, but only for about one minute out of ten, so we didn't bother to yell at him. Ron's technique seemed to mainly involve copying off of Hermione's drawing.

When the last of us, which in this case was Luna, had finished her drawing, Hermione told Professor Firenze that she needed to talk to him. This was the first time Professor Firenze had appeared to be ill at ease. Sensing this, I guided Ron and Harry away from the tower, so that Hermione and Professor Firenze could discourse in private.

We decided to wait up in the common room for Hermione to return. When an hour and a half had gone by, I decided to head up to bed. For some reason, at times like this, Harry was always far more scrupulous than my brothers in following Professor McGonagall's injunction against snogging in sight of the younger students, so although Harry was happily chatting with me, as well as the others, he hadn't even been sitting close enough for me to touch. It just didn't seem worthwhile to stay awake longer. The others followed me out of the common room, but Ron announced his intention to wait however long it took. I was quickly lulled to sleep by the whale song, which provided my own private lullaby channel.

Break, break, break

I should note in defense of Firenze that the Centaur age of maturity is lower than that of Wizards and that Centaurs expect their young to grow up and be independent risk takers at a younger age. What might be viewed as quite callous treatment of a third year by McGonagall, is not at all remarkable to a Centaur.

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	71. Chapter 71

**Chapter Seventy-One - Witch Painting **

I awoke to the sight of Fawkes's bright plumage, back lit by the rising sun, as he sat on his perch in front of the window. "Did you get any sleep at all?" I asked Hermione.

"Not much more than an hour. Professor Firenze wanted to apologize again, even though I told him it wasn't necessary. He agreed that the time was appropriate for me to claim Fawkes and showed me how to summon him. Fawkes took about two hours to reach us. Then I came back to Gryffindor and had another chat with Ron. He wanted me to see the note that Dumbledore left for him. I don't think it's as embarrassing as he thinks. He'll likely let you see it in a few days. I think we're all a little ill-equipped to recognize, accept, and try to change our areas of weakness. Ron's a good person, with a lot of talents, and Dumbledore recognized that. He also saw Ron's weaknesses and was disappointed that Ron hadn't done enough to put his weaknesses behind him.

Anyway, Ron and I went to Professor McGonagall's office to fetch Fawkes's perch. I wasn't at all sure that the gargoyle would admit us, but it did. I think it automatically allows Fawkes and anyone he is escorting into the office. That's how Dumbledore set it up and I doubt that McGonagall thought to or was able to change it. I read about it in the library: the gargoyle was Dumbledore's. It wasn't there for prior headmasters. Anyhow, I came right back here, got Fawkes settled in, and tried to sleep. I'm tired, but feeling better about myself. I'm going to work on my broom riding and step up my efforts at what I do best, library research to discover how best to slay a ghost".

"I like your bird," Pansy volunteered. "I heard you talking in the common room yesterday, and I think you're just too hard on yourself. Nobody can do everything. I'd be very happy to be able to do half of what you do. That's Dumbledore's bird isn't it? The protector of Gryffindors."

"Yes, this is Fawkes. He's one of the few remaining phoenixes left in the world. I think he protects those who get into trouble by bravely acting on the urgings of a pure heart. Now that you are living in Gryffindor, he likely will come to your aid, under the right circumstances."

I couldn't help thinking that the right circumstance would be the off chance that Pansy ever developed a pure thought, or at least an ability to give half a care to anyone other than herself, and perhaps Draco. That reminded me of Professor Celine's wish, and I suggested to Pansy that she and Draco might find the next meeting of the art club to be an interesting experience. "That's tomorrow afternoon at 4:00," I told her. "The room is difficult to find, so we'll leave together from the common room a few minutes before." I was surprised when Pansy agreed to join us.

Professor Celine, who insisted that Draco call her Adrienne, was very happy to see Draco and Pansy. The addition of Draco to our number made it four Wizards to thirty Witches. Even Professor Firenze didn't have that skewed a ratio. Professor Celine did the same sort of demonstration that she had performed earlier in the week. We were still on portraiture and Draco and Pansy were asked to do portraits of each other and, if they could manage to stay a little longer, of their mothers. The rest of us were to do self-portraits, for which purpose, two of the five walls had been lined for the day with floor-to-window mirrors. Since the windows began at a height of a little over six feet, this worked well. I approached our assignment with some foreboding. If a Witch painting of your boyfriend was verging on the overly personally revealing, a self-portrait would leave one feeling hopelessly exposed and defenseless.

I looked over at Jimmy Peakes with great sympathy. As a guy without a current girlfriend, a state hard to imagine for an attendee of this particular club, he was instructed at our last meeting to simply paint the Witch in our club who most interested him. Jimmy had evidently decided to solve that conundrum with as little embarrassment and self-revelation as possible by electing to paint Professor Celine. I hadn't seen his work at the end of our last meeting, but the professor had proudly hung it at the center of the wall between the two mirrored walls. I couldn't help wandering past it to surreptitiously analyze how Jimmy saw our professor.

I saw that he had both insight and imagination. He had perched her on a seaside cliff, facing away from the cliff and looking straight at the viewer, with her long blonde hair blowing out to sea in back of her, her chest thrust out in a taut tee, and a look of total wildness in her expression and glinting green eyes. Her left hand was holding the hand of a shorter Witch of perhaps sixteen, who was looking a little to the side, with a far more subdued expression. There was a bit of the resting Adrienne in this girl's expression, but the fire was missing, replaced by a tinge of fear. The fear was not unwarranted. Big Adrienne's wildness could equally well have spoken of death-defying thrill seeking, sexual excitement, or near insanity. One got the sense that she would gladly leap off the cliff backwards into the doubtless pounding surf, if challenged by the appropriate dare. The younger Witch seemed to recognize this urge toward extreme risk taking and looked anxious to pull away.

This portrait certainly was far from the whole of Professor Celine, but captured a fair piece of her Adrienne side, possibly a hint at another side as well. I doubt a single portrait could possibly encompass all of her, but this one tried and it definitely rang true in capturing at least one aspect of her personality. I hadn't yet witnessed the subdued, frightened side of Adrienne, if that was really whom the young Witch was supposed to be. I wondered when Jimmy could possibly have seen this side of her. The painting likely said almost as much about Jimmy as Professor Celine, and made me determined to sneak a glimpse of their self-portraits at the end of our session.

I must have been staring a while, because I heard Professor Celine speaking over my shoulder, "it is a remarkably powerful portrait, isn't it. I'm not sure whether I recognize myself or not, but the only important thing is that it captures how Jimmy sees me. He has a gift. Still, introspection is more challenging and takes more courage than capturing the likeness of others. You are procrastinating and should be thinking on the mirror's reflection of yourself, rather than this glimpse of a part of me."

I took the hint and sliding three paces to my right, gazed at my own reflection. I couldn't help rearranging my hair and straightening my robes, before beginning the effort of imprinting my detailed image into my mind. I soon had the image fixed and then began to edit out what I didn't want to see or be, and to make bold the parts that most appealed to me. I tried a variety of poses and facial expressions, but they mainly caused the edited image to blur. I settled on an expression and fixed it, then tried to set beside it what I remembered from Harry's portrait of me.

I used Harry's version to make the first edit of my own, then concentrated fiercely to fix that combined image in all its detail and shadings. There were still parts that I didn't approve, so I did further subtle edits, blurring sharp edges and thinning the detail in some places. In the final edit, my hair was perfect, if slightly unnatural looking. I fixed on this outline of myself and threw a light yellow background color onto the canvas beyond the boundaries of the outline me. I then threw up the first pass of my face, at least the pinkish part and then the red hair. This was followed by the mouth, then the eyes, then eyebrows and lashes, then shadows to outline the nose and eye sockets. I was still a little troubled by the too-perfect hair. A little more blurring seemed to fix that problem. Then, with ten different colored jars of paint between the canvas and my wand, I levitated, ordered, mixed and rearranged to create a virtual portrait which hovered the merest fraction of an inch above the canvas.

This was a very thin layer of paint, aimed just at my face with a few highlights for my hair, really just enough color to give a realistic texture to my face and a little extra interest to my mane. A quick flick of the wand and it was on the canvas. A follow-up wand flick had the oil paint dry enough that it couldn't run. The portrait was clearly me, although a little more beautiful and a lot more plastic-looking than Harry's version of me. I looked at Hermione, as I tried to capture the way the school robes flowed and billowed over the body and the shadows that gave texture and shape to them. I assembled my robes a scant quarter inch above the canvas and then gently pressed them against the canvas, filling in the quarter inch of safety space, which I had left between my face and neck and the robes. I stepped away from the canvas and put my wand back in my robes. I decided that imperfect as the self-portrait might be, it was finished. This allowed me to wander and observe the work of the other artists.

Adrienne was the only other artist who was finished, so I wandered toward her easel to see what she had produced. She stopped me several paces away from seeing her work, offering "I'll show you mine, if you show me yours."

This sent me back to grab my canvas from the easel. I handed her my painting and stepped forward to look at her self-portrait. It was a gaily colored portrait, showing Adrienne in a brightly colored Muggle summer frock, a royal blue ribbon binding her hair and her head thrown back in joyous laughter. There was an easel with a partly finished landscape in front of her, but she was looking to the side, away from both the easel and the viewer. Although Adrienne looked very young in real life, nobody would have guessed her correct age of thirty, in the portrait, she appeared at least a half dozen years younger than in life. She could have passed as my contemporary, and looked sublimely happy and carefree. It was a very detailed painting. On closer inspection, I could tell that the landscape on the easel was the lake at Hogwarts, showing just a corner of the castle. It was an old view: the Dumbledore memorial was not present.

"I definitely see that joyful side of your personality," I told her, "and it's interesting that you see yourself as a younger Witch."

"Self-image frozen at a favorite moment in my life? At least a different slice of me than depicted by Jimmy. Your self-portrait, on the other hand is cramped and has much of the life carefully edited out of it. You shouldn't hide your emotions so carefully, we all see you as you are each and every day. Harry's portrait of you and yours of him are both much more honest and far better. You and Harry both captured the brave, fierce, strong side of you, but Harry also included the softness and some appealing vulnerability. You haven't even permitted a hair to fall out of place. You don't create naturalness by blurring, you do it through brutal honesty. I know you still have the unedited version in your brain. Don't try to fix this piece of plastic. Grab a fresh canvas and throw the true picture onto the canvas."

I sheepishly walked to the supply closet to grab my spare whited canvas. She was correct - I realized that I could quickly re-visualize the unedited merged image of my original and what Harry had painted. I gave my head an imaginary shake to let my hair fall where it chose, seeing it rise and fall in my minds' eye. As it had almost finished its fall, I froze my mind and used my wand to fill the field with various colors of oil and fling them onto the canvas. My flying hair adequately captured, I laid in the background light yellow over the modified outline. Next the base pink for my face and neck and the robes were identical to my first painting. I reworked the lips to show a bit more expression, with the barest hint of teeth. A slight alteration gave my eyes what I thought of as an amused look. The biggest changes were some smile wrinkles around the mouth and eyes and a slight creasing of the brow, all effected with the application of some light grayish shading. The paint ran slightly, before I could get it dried. I was less beautiful, but somehow more alive.

Adrienne spoke from my left side. "Not perfect, but much, much better. I'd willingly choose to spend some time with this Witch. My apartment, after dinner, feel free to bring Harry. I'll bring the sherry. Wait for me in the Great Hall after dinner. Harry will have to park his aurors on my stairs. As a Muggle artist I had an ironclad rule that I never invited police into my home."

"Umm, thank you," I mumbled. "We'll be there." I wandered off to see what Draco had produced. I saw that he had one portrait leaning against the base of his easel, while he stared with elsewhere eyes at the blank canvass in front of him. He raised his wand and I saw paint soar into the air, move about, and splash onto the canvas. He turned and smiled at me. "I sensed you were there. I take it I'm to say 'I'll show you mine if you'll show me yours'. I heard enough to know that we each have two."

I was holding my two canvasses and handed them to Draco, as I stepped back to look at the picture of Pansy on the easel. The portrait-Pansy was prettier than the real-life Pansy. She was captured in the bored, vaguely dissatisfied looking expression that I had often seen on her face. Apart from that attitude, which had seeped into the vision, portrait-Pansy was even more vapid than real-life Pansy. I could see how Professor Celine might well use the portrait as the jumping off point for pairs counseling. Frankly, I wondered if she had an ulterior motive in getting Draco and Pansy to her club. I liked Professor Celine, but the Witch certainly wasn't above exposing and playing with the deepest emotions of those around her. I hoped she only did this for the good of all involved.

I was stepping back for a look at 'Mom', when Draco commented "the good professor is correct about the timidity of your first, rather plastic attempt. The second is rather good and captures quite a lot about you. What do you think of my Pansy portrait?"

"It looks like not all is well between the two of you. She looks extremely beautiful in a plastic sort of way, but bored and more than a little dull."

"Pansy has her pluses and minuses. At present she is concerned that I am not being sufficiently bold in defense of what she views as OUR interests. A minor bump in the road, which will pass. We love each other, even if we don't have identical goals."

"You captured your mother's intelligence and a determination that I've seen in her over the past several weeks. She looks rather unhappy, however."

"She worries entirely too much. I think some of her worry has leaked over to Pansy. Intelligence combined with over-caution too easily leads to fear and unhappiness, don't you think?"

"I definitely do, but I'm too much of a risk taker."

"If I didn't know better, I might assume that the two of you were flirting with each other," Pansy commented from in back of me. "If you'll excuse me, I need to borrow my man and see what he thinks of my portrait of him. I have to say that I only half like this portrait of me. I see myself as a more vivacious person. Bye, Ginny."

My ears heard 'bye', but my feet followed them to allow me a glimpse of Pansy's work and perhaps even to eavesdrop on Draco's appraisal. I saw the portrait, before Pansy spoke. The thought that flashed through my mind was 'sensitive, weak, pretty boy'. Pansy commented, "I made it as strong as I could… Adrienne encouraged us to aim for uncensored honesty."

I saw the canvas flying a dozen feet across the studio, as Draco huffed out of the room.

Adrienne hurried over to rescue the canvas, before it was stepped upon, took a glance, and commented to Pansy, "my, my, my dear. Truth does have consequences."

Somehow, I wondered if this outcome wasn't exactly what Adrienne had expected and intended. There most definitely was a dangerous side to this Witch. Could I trust her around Harry? Not that I thought she might try to steal him, but that if she got it into her mind that I wasn't worthy of the Great Harry Potter, she might precipitate the sort of fight I had just witnessed between Draco and Pansy.

Hermione had been studying Adrienne's self-portrait and now wandered over to find out what all the excitement was about. Adrienne explained, which caused Pansy to shrug her shoulders and prance out of the studio. Hermione looked at the departing Pansy and shook her head, before turning to Adrienne "I really like your self-portrait. You are very accomplished with oils. You must be very successful in the Muggle world."

"Thank you, Hermione, but I seldom paint in oil. I much prefer acrylic, but Professor McGonagall said that was too modern for Hogwarts, we mustn't rush change too rapidly. I've been moderately successful of late, but it's been thin times for the past decade, and I've earned more from my counseling than from my art. The marriage counseling pays reasonably well and I landed a few juicy consulting contracts helping investors figure out the motivations and thinking of their business associates. It can be very helpful to gain a deeper understanding of the business competition and your clients."

"Yes, my mother tells me that consulting for companies can be very well remunerated, but don't they usually only employ consultants with academic credentials."

"That's normally true, but I've done a little work for Wizards doing business in the Muggle world. Clients who appreciate my special talents. Now that my art has taken off, that is all behind me. You think my work would do well because it's original and well executed, don't you? Let me tell you, in the art world, pricing is all about reputation. If you've got one, any schlock you crank out will go for a very good price. If you're trying to break in, you could paint the next Mona Lisa and they'd pay you about thirty quid. It can get quite depressing. I used to duck back to Hogwarts over the summer so some of the old Profs could buck up my spirits and give me the determination to go back and bang my head against the art world wall once again. Well, I'm quite proud that I finally butted my way through that wall. It took a decade to achieve that."

"I'm surprised you chose to paint with acrylics," Hermione commented. "It seems very untraditional for a Witch. Doesn't it give an overly bright and shiny appearance?"

"It can, until you fully master the medium," Adrienne explained, an odd look on her face.

I walked over to Harry to tell him about Adrienne's invitation and to examine his self-portrait. Harry's portrait was finished and he was standing in front of it, as if he had been studying it, but his thoughts were elsewhere. "I take it there is renewed strife in Slytherin-land. What do you think of my painting?"

I saw that the scar was far more prominent in Harry's own painting than in either Adrienne's or mine. His also showed more shyness and indecision. Harry's painting was definitely Harry, but Harry of some months or years back. The summer and start of term had strengthened and matured him in a way he did not yet fully internalize. Harry was amused that we would be visiting Adrienne's apartment and more amused that we were apparently the only invitees.

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	72. Chapter 72

**Chapter Seventy-Two – An Evening with Adrienne**

Our invitation was a subject of dinner conversation with Ron, Hermione, Cissy, and even Draco. Cissy was elated by the honor bestowed upon us, sorry that she had not been asked to accompany us, but basking in reflected glory as the one who had led us into the club. Draco took the view that 'Professor Celine finds the Witches more interesting, and as you can tell, with Pansy seated way down at the other end of the table, the chances of our going as a couple must have seemed vanishingly small. Ron said he did not mind being left out, but expected a full report. Hermione seconded that view, commenting "yes, please keep observing, I'm beginning to think she is quite the most interesting member of our faculty."

The most surprising comment was from Jimmy Peakes, who said he had been invited "to visit her in her apartment. I was surprised to find it was just her and me, but there was nothing improper. We drank sherry and she congratulated me on the quality of my work, saying I showed great artistic sense for a Quidditch Captain. She offered suggestions on how I could improve my artwork and told me that she was determined to find the right girlfriend for me. A young Witch who was smart enough and strong enough to appeal to and be comfortable with a strong Wizard like me, who wasn't afraid to show his vulnerable artistic side. "

{{Quidditch Captain! I can't believe McGonagall would do that. Well, yes, I guess I can.}}

{[soothing] Don't over-react, Adrienne likely just misspoke.}

{{Fat chance.}}

{[Really worried] I take it this means 'war on'. This could be very awkward. For both of us, and your Mom}

{{Count on it! The war, that is.}}

To Jimmy, I merely smiled sweetly and said, "Your vulnerability is what I always liked best about you, Jimmy, only I'm already taken, sorry."

Jimmy actually took that comment seriously and gave me a shrug and a "no problem," before heading back to the dorm.

Harry and I waited dutifully for Professor Celine to stop by the Gryffindor table and pick us up. We followed her up to her apartment, which was conveniently accessed from a stairway entered from the rear of the supply closet of her studio classroom. The stairs were steep and rough-hewn, but lights came on to safely guide our way as we climbed to a massive ancient wood door. Professor Celine extracted a familiar looking giant key from the inside pocket of her robes, unlocked the door and led us into her sitting room.

As we crossed the threshold, Harry asked her a surprising question. "Before we enter your apartment, I must ask you, are we visiting Adrienne or Professor Celine?"

She stopped and turned to face him, but without pause declared, "why Adrienne, of course, since I invited you from the art club. That is a most perceptive question, however."

She led us into her sitting room. It was almost as large as Professor McGonagall's, but the furniture did not seem to automatically match itself to the number of guests. There were half a dozen short stools arrayed in a circle around a short central table, with all of this furniture arrayed in front of the fireplace in an otherwise starkly bare room. There were no draperies or other covering or ornamentation on the windows, but the stone walls were painted a bright dark green. This was the first time in my life that I saw a painted stone wall, let alone a bright green stone wall. It struck me as more than odd and distinctly non-Wizardy.

She observed us surveying the room and commented, "My needs are very simple and green is an especially soothing color. It is very private at this height, so I don't bother with window coverings. Somebody would have to be hovering outside the window on a broom to spy on me. Besides who would know that I am in the habit of performing yoga exercises in the nude, every morning from precisely 6:30 to 6:45? Professor McGonagall lives in the opposite tower, but she never opens her draperies. I'm not shocking you, am I?"

"Of course not," Harry replied, taking a seat on one of the stools. "I spent much of my childhood in the Muggle world, so I'm aware that as an artist in that world, you would need to create an outsized personality that your fans could imagine as quite shocking to the less bold and enlightened. My Uncle Dudley, who didn't care at all for any art created since the Great War, said he abandoned art, when art abandoned common sense and decency. Don't expect to see me flying past your window tomorrow morning, though. I'll be off to the Ministry. I'm less easily shocked than my uncle. He runs a factory, by the way."

"How fitting that he runs a factory. I imagine that to him, the highest form of art is that which is barely distinguishable from a photograph. Photography was both a curse and a blessing to artists. We realized instantly that we had no hope of matching the fidelity of a photograph, but that forced us to focus on how things really are, rather than simply upon what they look like. We provide what a photo cannot. Even a moving photo cannot possibly capture the essence of Harry Potter, but an artist can try. That's why I much prefer portraiture to the landscape drawing and painting that Hogwarts taught in the olden days. I've been to your little art museum and was surprised that portraits were apparently off limits.

"It's certainly encouraging that you don't share your uncle's narrow view of life. In that case I can speak frankly. Let me pour you some sherry. I detect a lot of tension in this school. Most of my students guard their true selves very tightly. That is not good for their artistic expression, or for their happiness. I'm not saying there isn't uptightness in much of Muggle society, but I don't recall ever seeing so much tension, even fear, in a community. It makes open communication very difficult."

"It's the result of the Voldemort war," Harry replied. "In a Muggle school, such as the one I attended for five years, you learned to shield part of your true self to avoid ridicule and a little bullying. Children can be cruel. Here, you hide part of your true self to avoid death. Anyone even suspected of being a Voldemort opponent could simply disappear or have their house burned down. Wizards learned to guard their thinking very carefully, and taught their children to do the same. Some of us spent years plotting to destroy Voldemort. Naturally, we kept our thinking guarded – probably not nearly as much as we should have. I'm sure you've heard how last term ended with a battle here at Hogwarts, with many students killed or being forced to kill others. You don't recover quickly from something like that."

"No, I'm sure you don't. But some of you, particularly Ron and Ginny, are carrying anger, even rage, deep inside of you. You're so skilled at hiding your feelings and just keeping moving forward, that it's almost hidden, but it's there and it influences your actions and relationships. It comes out a little in Ginny's first self-portrait, if you look closely at the set of the mouth and what Muggles call the hard stare. Harry doesn't see that as being a very big part of you, but it's there to a lesser degree in his portrait of you."

"Their brother was killed in the Battle of Hogwarts. About four months ago. We've been in other battles since then."

"Don't be defensive for Ginny. She's not defensive for herself, and her reaction is very natural for the circumstances. It's certainly nothing to be ashamed of. You're all coping extremely well under the circumstances. Scarily well, in fact. I think it's the just moving forward that allows you to cope so well. I'm afraid if you stand still and relax, you'll explode. It's not the hidden anger that scares me, it's the sense that you're still seeking revenge."

"I am," I told her. "Thicknesse and Barty are still alive. I haven't actually killed a Death Eater, yet."

"I take it this is the counselor, and not the artist, who is speaking?" Harry asked her.

"Yes, I can't turn off that part of my mind. The artist informs the counselor. I've also dabbled in family counseling, and a boarding school is sort of like a very big family. I find it a family in a state where the members are still not sure how to act around each other and who they can trust and depend upon. This is certainly not the friendly, comforting Hogwarts that I fondly remember from my student days. When I decided to come back to Hogwarts, I was excited about restoring the spirit of creativity that Minerva said existed here long ago. It wasn't here in my day, either. Now, I think my counseling skills are more needed than my art. You are very lucky to have Hermione's mother here. She can be of great help."

"Did the headmaster bring you here to be a counselor?" I asked.

"Right to the point, as usual. I don't think Minerva fully understands why she asked me to come. The excuse is that I'm her token Hufflepuff and she wanted to add art to the curriculum. She's desperate to succeed as headmaster and desperate to successfully turn this school in the right direction. She doesn't realize what a bundle of fear, frustration, and anger she is herself. She senses that something is very wrong and is grasping for a way to fix it. She had fond memories of me and at some level, probably thought in addition to my skills, that it couldn't hurt to add a happy, uninhibited free spirit to the mix of your little community."

"So you're determined to save us from ourselves?" I asked.

"No, nobody can do that. I'm just trying to provide you with some new tools so that you can save yourselves. I think art can be one of those tools. When you look at a good portrait and openly study it, you should come away with an improved understanding of three people: the artist, the subject, and yourself. If seeing yourself in a portrait as others see you, and comparing that to a self-portrait of how you see yourself, allows you to think of yourself a little differently, then you can begin to change yourself to more closely resemble the person whom you aspire to be. If the other portraits and self-portraits aid your understanding of those whom you live with, well that can only improve your community."

I realized that I had finished my third glass of sherry. I knew I was a little tipsy and probably should have kept my mouth shut, but I couldn't.

"You didn't help Draco and Pansy," I accused her. "They're now fighting. I couldn't help thinking during club that you were trying to cause that fight. Did you do thatyou're your own amusement? That would be more than a little cruel."

"No, I wasn't just tweaking them to see how they would respond. I've observed them a lot. Draco is a most complex and interesting Wizard. I'm not at all sure that Pansy is suited for him. That's not for me to decide, but I fear that they have been pulled together unnaturally by their presence at Hogwarts over the summer. They've moved to fast. I truly think it in their best interests to pause and think. Sex is powerful enough that it can block thinking. McGonagall has been very hasty in deliberately throwing them together. She more than I am playing a game. I'm trying to protect Draco."

"And will you try to protect Harry from me?"

"No, you are a good match for Harry. I would encourage you not to rush. I…"

I was feeling quite tipsy. Adrienne seemed to sense that and mercifully focused her attentions on Harry, who had barely sipped at his second glass. "Well Harry, your girlfriend has told me what she thinks of Jimmy's portrait of me and of my self-portrait. What did you glean from those paintings?"

I could feel Harry's emotions and could tell how grateful he was for both the change of topic and an end to my dialog with Adrienne.

"Jimmy sees you as a free spirit and very much of a risk taker. He also sees you as someone who mildly flirts with all the boys to cover that you are drawn to the girls. In your portrait, you still see yourself as a Seventh Year at Hogwarts, that's why you show yourself painting a long ago Hogwarts landscape. A greater part of you than you care to admit is still tied to Hogwarts and your student days. I would suggest to you that you are not as comfortable with your life in the Muggle world as Professor McGonagall thinks."

"Yes, I suspect that is how Jimmy sees me and why he feels as safe around me as he does. In truth, I don't have a strong preference either way. I see that that doesn't really shock you. Minerva told me about your discussion of her and Trew. I can tell that you are not at all the same person that you were at the start of summer. I think you are approaching the change correctly, imagining the person you want to be and then becoming him. Does it shock you that Minerva and I have discussed you?"

"No, that seems inevitable. Ginny and I have interacted or even fought with Professor McGonagall enough since the start of summer that I'm sure we're very much on her mind. She has struck us as a little unsure how she should relate to us. With your perceptiveness and counseling background, I was certain she had asked you how she should deal with us, just as I'm certain she's had the same discussion with both Ginny's and Hermione's mothers. I suspect that is also why you were so anxious to have Draco join your club."

"All of that is true, but as Minerva described Draco and I watched him around the school, hanging all over Pansy, I decided that he was a most interesting character that I needed to learn more about, regardless of Minerva's interest. I'm sure you've guessed that this hanging all over Pansy in sight of the other students is simply Draco's way of rebelling against both Minerva and his father."

She spent most of the rest of our time together supplying some pointers on how to observe and visualize a subject and on how to evenly transfer the pigment to the canvas. She said she would invite Ron and Hermione after the next class. As we were getting up to leave, she asked us, "So, are you going to continue coming to the art club and join my little group of acolytes?"

Harry answered, "It has been very interesting and educational. As Ron says, 'we at least have to stay until we do a metal sculpture, that's really rad.' On the acolyte thing, I'm not really sure. You're a lot more ambitious than Professor McGonagall – she limited herself to one acolyte at a time." This caused me to whisper Harry {{you're certainly trying to act all deep and mysterious.}}

{[amused and a little triumphant] Oh, I think she deciphered the message easily enough.}

"Tell me honestly," Adrienne asked Harry, "do you find me a bit intimidating or off-putting?"

"No, I honestly don't think so," Harry replied. "You're easily the most interesting professor during my years at Hogwarts. I admit to having more than a little difficulty in figuring you out. You are quite different than anyone I've met in either of my worlds. As Kingsley might say, you 'definitely bear watching'."

Her final words were, "Goodbye. Please be very kind to each other and to your friends. These are challenging times and it is very easy to imagine affronts or to unintentionally give affront. Everyone's senses are alternately heightened and dulled and it is impossible to predict which state another is in at a given moment. Please try to be kind to Minerva. She is very stressed and thinks very hard about doing the right thing. She feels under-appreciated."

With that somewhat enigmatic comment reverberating in our brains, we were gone.

In the common room we summarized our experience with Professor Celine and Hermione said "very interesting," while Ron snapped "I'm not angry at the core." When Hermione responded, "it's natural, but yes, you are," Ron stomped off to the boys' dorm and Hermione spread her hands in helpless bemusement.

I asked Hermione, "You're a person who uses words very precisely. I'm betting you've got a dictionary and can tell me, what is the exact meaning of acolyte?" Hermione smiled and hustled up to the dorm to retrieve her dictionary. When she returned, she quoted:

_**Acolyte: one who assists a clergyman in a liturgical service by performing minor duties; one who attends or assists: a follower. {helped by her admiring acolytes}.**_

"Thanks, that's pretty much what I thought it meant. I just got the impression Harry was whisper-thinking down to me, when I asked him to explain."

"That doesn't sound like Harry, tell me the exact details." I did and Hermione reassured me "Harry was very focused on Professor Celine's reactions and I think believed that you and he were just exchanging a brief mental knowing comment at Professor Celine's expense. Don't make too much of it, you're really in danger of thinking yourself into relationship problems. To cut to the chase, you're just annoyed that Harry is a little slow, but that's just Harry. But back to your story, I find your more detailed description of Harry's last exchange with Professor Celine most interesting. I'm looking forward to our visit to her apartment. I thought I was a step ahead of Harry on this one, but I guess I'm not."

"What do you mean?"

"If you weren't spending so much mental energy being upset with Harry, you would already have realized that Professor Celine is the 'acolyte' who painted the portrait that we saw snugged up in the corner of the Hogwarts art museum, the painting that was painfully out of place. Professor Celine was in the museum back in her student days and left a memento. She may even have forgotten about it, but I'm sure Harry's comment will jog her memory. As you were describing what Harry said to Professor Celine, it finally dawned on me what had troubled me so about that painting. It wasn't just that it was jammed in the corner as an afterthought or that it was the only portrait in the room. It was painted with acrylic paint, which certainly hadn't been invented when the museum was supposedly sealed up, until we discovered it."

"Oh!"

"Oh, indeed."

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	73. Chapter 73

**Chapter Seventy-Three – Quidditch Practice**

We spent the next weekend helping both Hermione and Cissy improve their broom riding and their comfort at higher altitude. It was clear that both of them needed to increase their upper body strength if they were going to be able to properly remount their brooms while hanging on from beneath them. As I went off for the first Quidditch practice of the year, Madam Hooch stopped by at Harry's request to recommend specific exercises for Hermione and Cissy. She was very helpful, although her expression and attitude said 'really, dears, why didn't you come to me sooner?' Instructing Cissy and Hermione was a very reasonable thing to do, but it chewed up all the available time when I might have been alone with Harry.

The new Quidditch season was starting later than normal, I think primarily because the Headmaster and Madam Hooch didn't know what to do with Slytherin closed. They decided upon a shortened season in which each house would play the other two houses, which meant only three total games, with a possibility of a playoff game in the event of a tie. It was clear that the staff had decided to de-emphasize Quidditch this term. Still, we had a spirited practice, involving the dozen students who had come out for the team. Neville had pointedly informed me that I had more than enough to do, and should allow another student to captain the team.

"I picked Jimmy Peakes. He's a very good player, not as good as you are, of course. He's a good lad, a fifth year, bright enough and likeable, but a little shy. I thought he would benefit from the leadership experience. You've got all the confidence and leadership skills you could ever need. I'd like you to help Jimmy over the initial rough spots. This could be very important for him. It's not too early for you to practice some subtle mentoring skills. Help the new guy by being an exceptionally good follower and giving him helpful suggestions in a way that he doesn't think you're directing him. I'm confident that you can do this."

If Neville was confident that I would do a good job of not being Captain, then how could I possibly fail? Being a helpful follower was the experience that I needed. Wasn't this what I was doing with Harry… and Dad? I had expected to be Captain. Well, up to the point that Jimmy had blurted out that he was Captain. By any honest evaluation, I had definitely earned the position. I was clearly the best player on the team and had been a student leader last term.

I just replied to Neville, "I realize you are just being the good soldier and this is McGonagall's doing. Jimmy let slip a week ago that he was Captain. Even Professor Celine knew. That's how Jimmy found out. So I'm certain this wasn't your decision, just as it wasn't your decision that I'm not a Prefect or anything else this term. You don't need to apologize. I know that I have McGonagall to thank for my highly esteemed position at Hogwarts this year."

Neville just gave an apologetic shrug as he spread his hands and turned away. He stopped and returned to me. "Alright, I didn't expect you to be happy about this and after all that you did last year, I agree that it really stinks. Still, please remember that Jimmy had nothing to do with shoving you aside, so don't take it out on him. He really does need your support."

Despite my disappointment at not being Captain, I did enjoy getting back on the practice field and did my best to be highly supportive of Jimmy. I kept telling myself, be more like the new Harry, less like the same old Ron. I think it worked. Still, this was not at all how I had imagined my last year of Hogwarts. At the end of practice, Jimmy told us that he would be picking the team and alternates at the next practice. I thought alternates were a good idea. It was smart to have alternates who had practiced with the team and were ready to replace an injured player at a moment's notice. Jimmy told me that this was a rule change introduced by McGonagall as a way of involving more of the students.

Jimmy was adopting a very meek, apologetic air around me, so I told him that I knew it wasn't his fault; he wasn't the one who decided he should be Captain. "This is just McGonagall continuing her little feud with me," I told him. "She thinks she's going to break me and bring me to heel, but she has no idea how tough I am."

"I don't know about your situation with the Headmaster," Jimmy replied, "but I really do need your support on this. I don't think I could stand to be in a running battle with you all season."

"I'll do as much as I can," I assured Jimmy.

I was changed and out of the locker room as quickly as I could politely manage. I was trying to hide my upsettedness but, from some of the comments, I could tell that I wasn't fully hiding how hurt I felt.

I knew Harry was at the Ministry, so I set out in search of Mom. I couldn't find her, either. This really wasn't turning out to be a very satisfactory day for me. I congratulated myself on not seeking out McGonagall for a confrontation. I didn't fear her authority. If she tossed me out of Hogwarts, it wouldn't bother me. She had effectively buried me, anyhow. I would go through my final year at Hogwarts with none of the honors which I had earned.

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	74. Chapter 74

Chapter Seventy-Four – Stressed Out

Over the next week, I didn't see much at all of Harry, except in class. I even asked him why his friends were performing all his constituent services for him. This earned me a blank stare and a puzzled look, which soon turned into an apology, "sorry, I've just been really busy. The loan agency bill has run into some problems. Don't worry. I'll make some time for us to be alone together."

This had me feeling less like a valued girlfriend and more like an unwanted obligation to be reluctantly fit into his schedule.

We had all felt obliged to sign up for Hagrid's Advanced Care of the More Challenging Magical Creatures course. This course met for ninety minutes once a week, so we were able to squeeze it into our schedules. As we were heading to our fourth class, I was musing about the prior lessons. Harry's secretiveness about his participation in the planning of this next class had sent my mind racing. The first several class meetings had left us doubting Hagrid's definition of 'more challenging', since he had provided more challenging beasts during our prior classes with him. Hagrid sensed his pupils' confusion and apologized profusely for being behind on his recruitment of course specimens, owing to his prolonged trips to the Giant's land.

For the first class meeting, he had convinced a pair of Unicorns to participate in the class. While the Unicorns are very special animals, and definitely on the finicky side about what they are willing to eat and what they will accept as suitable treatment, they are hardly dangerous. Still, it was good to have a chance to chat with them again, one of the pair being the Unicorn who had activated my ring. If lacking in danger, the Unicorn class was definitely popular, especially with the fourth year girls in the class. Hagrid was quite pleased to see not only his old friends, but also a dozen other students taking his course. The Unicorns really liked Hagrid and one of them even allowed Hagrid to prick his side, in order to show the students what silver Unicorn blood looked like. This particular Unicorn, whose name was Iola, reminded us to collect the blood, saying it might be of future value to us and it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

Hermione had pulled three of the ever-present sample vials from her robes and filled them to the top with the Unicorn blood. Tor, the leader of the House Elves, wanting to get back into Hermione's good graces, agreed to refrigerate the vial in the kitchen for her. I hadn't even realized it, but the Elves kept food cold with blocks of saltwater ice, which they harvested in the dead of winter.

The second session had been a bit more challenging, as Hagrid introduced the class to the proper etiquette for dealing with Centaurs. I had to agree with Harry that the ever irascible Bane was among the more challenging of magical creatures. This lesson had started poorly and ended rather worse, or better, depending upon your perspective. Most of the students had encountered Professor Firenze in divination class and had the image of the gentle, considerate, deeply philosophical, infinitely patient, and totally dreamy (from a Witch's perspective) image of Firenze as their sole concept of what Centaurs were like. They thus did not see how a Centaur could possibly be considered to be one of the more challenging magical creatures. The girls, furthermore, did not find Bane to be nearly as dreamy as Firenze and, perhaps, let their disappointment show.

Bane quickly disabused my classmates of their notion that Firenze was a representative Centaur. He took umbrage at just about anything the students said, told them that he was the leader of the herd and ruler of the Forbidden Forest, and that although he had agreed to be a class specimen, in order to tell them about Centaurs and their ways, that he definitely felt entitled to a great deal of respect from them. When Harry approached Bane, shook his hand, and had a brief pleasant chit chat with him, Draco seemed to bristle at Harry 'showing off'.

It was Buckbeak all over again. Draco being Draco, even Draco trying to be the new and improved Draco, couldn't avoid the bait any more than Harry could behave in Snape's class. As Bane was demanding respect, Draco let a belittling taunt escape his lips. Bane found his bow and pointed an arrow at Draco, who stood open-mouthed and then turned and ran. The class ended prematurely when Bane shot Draco in the buttocks.

That lesson was certainly memorable and I don't think those students were likely to disobey Professor McGonagall's injunction against entering the Forbidden Forest. The best part came later, as Draco was vehemently complaining to Narcissa over lunch and demanding that something be done. Narcissa responded that it sounded like the incident had been entirely Draco's fault and that she hoped in the future he abandoned his smart-alecky demeanor and treated the leaders of the other magical species with their due respect.

The third class had been, frankly, freakily chilling. In his desire to finally provide a class specimen that all of the students could agree was truly challenging, Hagrid had stepped over the line and brought two of Aragog's larger progeny, including the current head of the Aragog clan. Ron was unable to approach closer than forty feet from them and kept his wand in his hand the whole class. Most of the girls pivoted on the spot and departed at their first sight of the giant spiders. For the rest of us, Hagrid provided a detailed dissertation on their habits, what they liked to eat, where they lived, how their society was organized, how he had found and raised Aragog, and just why their venom was so costly. It turned out one of the things they liked to eat was young Wizards, or so Magog told us in his own voice, sending the remainder of the class scurrying just before the end of the first hour of class. Hagrid seemed truly surprised when we departed.

These memories flooded my brain as I set out from the castle, with the rest of our circle, for our fourth lesson. My interest and speculation had been piqued by the hints dropped by Harry that he was assisting Hagrid in the planning of this particular class. Even knowing that, I was astounded to discover that Harry had recruited King Goblanze and half a dozen other Goblins to stage an al fresco art show. The King had brought half a dozen of his drawings, including the spectacular drawing of the night sky as seen from Iona. He had decided to leave his disputed masterpiece back at the office. There was a Goblin who brought three sculptures cast in bronze, including a lovely life-scale Unicorn. There was also a Goblin who made statues of alabaster and marble. He brought a sculpture of me, without clothes.

That caused a bit of a stir, but I assured the class that I had not posed for it. I'm sure I reddened, as Malfoy replied, "Like you'd admit it even if you had posed, as it appears you did."

Another Goblin carved magical creatures out of large pieces of wood, another painted in oil, yet another wrought jewelry from fine silver and copper wires, while the final Goblin produced beautiful stained-glass panels. The King, after identifying himself as the King, explained the primacy of the arts in Goblin life and congratulated us on the return of art instruction to our school. He also gave an example of Goblinspeak and showed the students several intricate brass instruments used in magical engineering. Finally, he showed them the Polyjuice detector and sternly warned of the fate that would befall any Wizard found impersonating another Wizard to gain access to valuables that he had no legal right to possess. It was definitely a very different class.

I thought it was over, the ninety minutes having elapsed, when six more Goblins appeared bearing large lunch baskets. "Goblins are also excellent cooks," the King proclaimed. "I thought you might like to sample our cuisine."

Although some young Wizards can be and were unduly persnickety when it comes to trying unfamiliar food, I found the Goblin dishes totally delectable. Our circle more than made up for what a couple of fourth years refused to eat. I had to score this class a big plus for Hagrid and Harry, despite most of the students having previously encountered Goblins at Gringotts. I was disappointed for the students who failed to appreciate what an honor it was to have met both the Goblin King and the leader of the Centaur herd in Hagrid's class.

Draco was impeccably behaved in the King's presence, complimenting his drawings, repeatedly calling him Sir, and achieving an overall level of deference that I didn't think him capable of.

We lingered after the other students had left, chatting with the King and complimenting the food. It turned out that Harry had recruited Hagrid's help in establishing the Goblin sanctuary and that Harry wanted to show the planned site to the Goblins. We took a two hour side-trip, missing our herbology class. The Goblins were all very pleased with the site and the progress that was being made in establishing their sanctuary. Harry and I also got to take a look at the progress being made on our future home. It was coming along very nicely, and a start had been made to Ron and Hermione's house.

Harry apologized to King Goblanze. "The Minister thinks I should get at least the tacit approval of the Wizengamot, even though the sanctuary will be on my land. Establishing a new sanctuary could complicate the security of Hogwarts and the Ministry's ability to keep the school invisible. The conservative members of the Wizengamot are already protesting that change is occurring too rapidly. They're not at all happy with the Elven Rights bill. Arthur wants to introduce the sanctuary resolution after the Wizengamot has approved the bank charter extension and the Young Wizards Loan Agency. They have been wrangling over those companion bills for quite a while, already, and Arthur doesn't want to complicate the situation."

"Dad shouldn't be so cautious," I replied. "You and he have already bent over backwards being nice and forgiving to the Death Eaters and their chums. The complainers on the Wizengamot are the same people who quietly supported Voldemort and secretly wish that the rest of us Wizards would be forced to go back to being their serfs."

"Everything you say is true," Harry told me "but Arthur has to work with the Wizengamot he inherited. We were elected in a special election, but the terms of the Wizengamot members run for another six months. We've only been able to replace the proven Death Eaters, like Thicknesse, Barty Crouch, and Dolores Umbridge, in special elections. It will help a little more if a progressive candidate wins Frakes' seat. You'd be surprised how many of the conservative Wizards blame me for Frakes' death, and think his sons were perfectly justified in what they did, when they struck back in revenge. Those old Wizards sort of knew about the Elf farm and maybe even about the Elf hunting, but they didn't want to know all the sordid details.

"Now they feel I've rubbed their noses in the dung that they felt was slightly sordid, but necessary for preservation of their way of life and the remnants of their former prestige. It is the down-on-their-luck members of the Great Families who are most upset - the wealthier Wizards, like the Malfoys, don't seem to have much of a problem with it. When Lucius earns enough to buy back his estate, he'll just hire Wizard or Muggle servants. I think Wizard servants would provide more prestige in his mind, but he felt forced to stick to the old traditions and keep an Elf. Wizards can be serfs, but not servants."

"I understand the need to wait," King Goblanze agreed. "The charter renewal is actually more important than the sanctuary. You've started me thinking, Harry. Have I been insulting the Wizard community by using Wizards as my waiters and secretary? My intention was just to provide jobs for Wizards."

"It doesn't bother me," Harry replied, "but I'm younger generation and also did not grow up with the old Wizard traditions and mindset. Ginny could tell you how her family sees such things, but they are a very progressive family. I don't know how the more conservative Wizards feel about such things, but I'll ask around, in a low-key sort of way. If there has been grumbling about that sort of thing, Percy is bound to have heard of it. What I do notice, however, is the absence of Wizards in any middle or upper level positions at a bank, which is supposed to be serving all magical creatures, but in fact takes all of its profits from Wizards. That is definitely something that is a source of friction."

"I saw your waiters and receptionist and didn't feel at all offended that they were Witches and Wizards," I honestly told the King. "I have never heard any complaints from my parents, but it has never been discussed at all, so I really couldn't say what their reaction would be. Dad and Shacklebolt have both eaten at the bank and neither of them mentioned it."

There were a few hours before our next class, so Harry decided to spend some time at the Ministry. I went back to the common room to study alone. I was a little annoyed at Harry for keeping the class and sanctuary plans secret from me, and would have welcomed the chance for a quick chat to clear the air. I would have studied with Hermione, but she was unavailable. Hermione's experience coming back from the whale visit had left her totally focused on researching possible ways of killing ghosts. She was spending all of her free time with Gabrielle, having Gabrielle scan the Flamel papers for her and teach her enough French to review them herself. She was also taking so much time on her upper body exercises and broom practice that she was uncharacteristically neglecting her class work. The prior night, I had witnessed the highly unlikely act of Hermione copying Ron's homework. It was especially surprising because I knew Ron's answers were wrong.

I didn't get a chance to talk to Harry until well after dinner. Harry didn't arrive back at Hogwarts until just after our Wizard History class had begun, earning him a nasty look and Gryffindor a deducted point from Professor McGonagall. Harry rarely reacted to McGonagall, but as she was staring right at him, his facial expression and body language clearly conveyed the message 'whatever, woman, this is bull, but I won't let it bother me in the slightest'. McGonagall seemed ready to deduct a second point from Gryffindor, as she clearly received the silent message that Harry had sent her, but seemed to think better of it.

I had to race off to Quidditch practice as soon as the class was over and arrived late at dinner to find Lucius Malfoy at our table. The late arrival of our Quidditch team cost Gryffindor yet another point, for which McGonagall singled out 'Miss Weasley, late again!', rather than our Captain, whom she had picked all on her own. I was a little upset at the unfairness of this, although, to be perfectly honest, the whole business of points and the House Cup had come to seem, if not wholly silly, at least completely trivial. A year of the Carrows had totally reversed my perspective on points and really on the more trivial school rules, in general. The whole business seemed so artificial that I couldn't imagine a Ginny who had once actually been very concerned about such things. The downgrading of Quidditch did not enhance my appreciation of school rules or traditions. To be penalized for a great Quidditch practice that merely went a tad too long was not going to faze me in any way. At least Harry and I seemed to share an identical opinion on McGonagall and points.

Talking to Harry at dinner was impossible, because we late arrivals were at the far end of the table, while Harry was sitting with Neville, Professor McGonagall, and the Malfoys. This was only the second visit that Lucius had made to Hogwarts since the start of term, and I assumed that both the Ministry and McGonagall were interested in his activities and whether or not he was living up to his various agreements. He clearly wasn't undergoing any sort of intense interrogation, as the mood at that end of the table could best be described as jolly, with lots of smiles and continuous conversation, although Harry was subdued and not sharing in the overly light tone. If I didn't know better, I could have convinced myself that McGonagall was best pals with the Malfoys. I couldn't resist the resentment at the thought that both McGonagall's presence at our table and our penalty point were in deference to Lucius.

Lucius had been a Death Eater, had participated in the torture of the good guys, had always been a rich, smarmy elitist and now suddenly was the big cheese, because he had passively renounced Voldemort at the last minute. In my view, he had escaped justice with a slap on the wrist for his many crimes and been sent out into the Muggle world to cheat enough Muggles out of their savings to regain his estate and former lifestyle. In the meantime, we were charged with defending his family. The same family, which had spent years treating us all like crap. I didn't really see the new improved Draco as being fundamentally different than the old Draco – not so much a conversion in his thinking as a needed adaptation of his behavior to the loss of Goyle and Crabbe. He knew that without them, we could kick his butt, whenever we chose. I admit to a certain disappointment that we did not so choose.

After dinner, there was sherry and discussion for the Malfoys in McGonagall's office. As Harry's girlfriend, I got to tag along. Mom and Neville and Ron and Hermione and George and Luna and some the other Professors were there. Even Hermione's Mom and Dad were present. Harry's good spirit towards the Malfoys was really getting on my nerves and after two sherries, I guess I wasn't hiding my feelings very well, because Lucius commented to me, "what's the matter, young lady, you don't seem pleased by my presence."

"I'm not," I honestly replied. "The others may have forgiven you for your days as a Death Eater, but I'm not going to forget that I have you to thank for being taken over by Tom Riddle and almost killed in the Chamber of Secrets. A powerful grown Wizard trying to murder a helpless first-year girl, just because he can and thinks it might be amusing, is about as low as you can get. I'll not forget how poor Mr. Ollivander and Luna were imprisoned for weeks in your personal dungeon or how Hermione was tortured in your house, with your approval. I'll also not forget what a dreadful snob you and your son have been all these years. Rehabilitating you may be the right thing to do politically to heal the old wounds, but you're never going to be a buddy of mine. I admit that a part of me cries to see you being treated this civilly by good people who should know better."

"Well, at least you're honest. I take it that if you were running the government, instead of your father and Harry, I would still be in prison."

"Count on it!"

Harry knew better than to come to Lucius's defense or to apologize for my comments, although McGonagall's glance seemed to be urging him to say something.

"I've done things in the past which I'm not proud of," Lucius replied to me. "I certainly understand why you don't like me and why you think my punishment was inadequate. I assure you that I have changed and that I do appreciate your helping to protect my family. Thank you for that."

This last comment brought a displeased expression to Draco's face, so I was quite comfortable saying "you're welcome," to his father.

It seemed that McGonagall felt that this was as safe an ending point for our little party as she was likely to find. Rather than risking things sliding downhill from here, she announced that it was getting late and the students still had studying to finish, so perhaps we should break for the night. I couldn't help noticing that Lucius looked a lot more pleased than Narcissa as they left to head up to Narcissa's apartment. As Harry and I were leaving, Professor Celine whispered to us, "reformed or not, that is one arrogantly evil Wizard."

I walked back to our common room with the others, close enough to Harry that he apparently could pick up my thoughts. Perhaps he was merely reading my mood, which could hardly have been a deep secret.

{[worried] You're really upset, aren't you? It goes beyond the Malfoys, doesn't it? Is it something that I've done?}

{{The Malfoys are enough. I won't be publicly chastised for something that isn't my fault, just so McGonagall can suck up to that Death Eater. I was back for dinner faster than anyone on the team. It's her Captain who delayed us. We weren't even really late, she started dinner early. Other kids were still filing in. And I can't stand watching you treat him as some great, law-abiding person. Draco and Pansy can do everything but shag in front of the first years and McGonagall is fine with that, but I pat your bum or give you a granny peck and she's all over me. She's denied me all the school honors, which I HAVE earned. I can't stand that you take McGonagall's side. You don't realize how much she's manipulating you.}}

{[more worried] So you are upset at me.}

I saw Harry looking at me and gave a little nod yes, quickly becoming angry with myself that a tear was rolling down the cheek that Harry could see.

{[very worried] I'm really sorry. I know I've been very busy this past week. I thought you'd enjoy the Goblin surprise. Perhaps I should have shared my plans with you. There have been some problems back at the Ministry and I feel, that with classes and everything, I've not been doing my share to fix them. I don't want you to be upset at me.}

As we passed through the fat lady portrait, Harry fortunately signaled {[concern] let's go sit together in the far corner.} We really should have gone to his office, but Harry had loaned that space to George and Luna.

There were no chairs in that corner, but that was fine, at least we were somewhat alone. We sat against the walls in the corner. {What's the problem?}

{{For a start, you've been ignoring your constituency service. For another, you're becoming increasingly secretive.}}

{[worried] the last thing I want is to make you unhappy or to lose you. The Deputy Minister job comes with a lot of responsibility and we've had the start of classes, and the whale adventure. I've been physically and emotionally tired. I love you and you're more important to me than everything else combined.}

{{I haven't gotten as much as a little granny peck from you in the past week.}}

{[regret] It's not that I haven't wanted to snog. I promised Professor McGonagall that we wouldn't have any public displays of affection in front of the students.}

{{George and Ron made the exact same promise and it hasn't stopped them to nearly the extent that it's stopped you. Then, you didn't even save a place for me at dinner, tonight.}}

{[still worried/more than a little confused] That was Professor McGonagall's doing. I saved a seat and she said she wasn't waiting supper for the late arrivals and told Neville to sit in the seat that I had saved. This isn't really about not saving you a seat at dinner, is it?}

{{[defiantly] No it's not! You promised when we were in France that there would be other adventures and opportunities for snogging, but there just weren't. Now that term has started, you're shutting down more and more. Don't you find me attractive, anymore?}}

{[close to panic] Of course I do. I have been very busy. Perhaps I was a little concerned that we had been moving too fast. [trepidation]}

{{ It's not a race, but you do realize that Ron and Hermione are way ahead of us. That would be my socially retarded brother, Ron.}}

{[more worry] Maybe I'm more socially retarded than Ron. I grew up in a broom closet, after all. I work for your father, and your mother is like a mother to me.}

{{Have my parents been giving you the 'slow down buster, what are your intentions towards my daughter' speech?}}

{No, not really.}

{{Which is it, no or not really?}}

{[confused] They haven't exactly said anything, in fact your Mom's been good. Your father does frequently give that impression. Well, sometimes stronger than that. He still hasn't forgotten or forgiven your birthday celebration.}

{{He had better not interfere. And don't you dare say that I'm a year younger than Hermione. I'm seventeen. I'm of age.}}

{[actually frightened] I know you are, and I think your father does too. It's a little difficult working with your father and growing up almost as a part of your family, and your brother's best friend for years. It's just a little awkward.}}

{{[rage] HARRY POTTER! Do you think of me as a sister?}}

I must have said some of that last bit aloud, because everyone in the common room was now staring at us, and Harry now answered me aloud as well as in whisper-speak. "{[stomach sinking into pit panic] Of course not. I'm just a little concerned what your parents think of us and me.}

"I wish for just one day, you would forget about my parents and just think about us!"

{[please!] I do. I'm just a little slow, alright. Let's get out of here and go to my office.}

Under the glare of twenty pairs of eyes, Harry and I escaped through the portrait hole.

When Harry opened the door to his office, we discovered George and Luna doing more than snogging on his couch. "Sorry, guys!" Harry blurted out. "I forgot…" Harry hastily closed the door.

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	75. Chapter 75

**Chapter Seventy-Five – A Visit To The Astronomy Tower**

Catching Luna in the almost all-together had Harry flustered. He just stood outside the closed door, frozen in place. I was picking up enough vibes off him to know that he was both embarrassed and still very worried.

"Let just go to the Astronomy Tower," I suggested.

I led the way and Harry followed.

"Were you happier with Dean?" Harry asked me, fear dripping from each word.

"No. I like you much better than Dean. However, Dean always made me feel as though I was attractive and desirable. When we were together, he couldn't keep his hands off me. I still feel that you love me, and I love you, but I'm not so sure that you desire me."

"I do!" Harry declared, as he scuttled along behind me. "You don't know how hard it is to keep my hands off you, much of the time. I think you are extremely beautiful."

"I've never asked you to keep your hands off me, but you have become more and more distant."

We were now at the Astronomy Tower. Harry took my hand as we sat down in a corner {[Very worried/close to crying] I'm sorry! More than anything, I don't want to lose you. I'm afraid that I've already lost you. I've never seen you this upset. What do you want? I don't know how much I can change, but I really will try to make you happy.}

"I want to snog, but first, we really need to talk. I can't be happy with or accept how much you've pulled away from me. I can't accept a boyfriend who has so little interest in snogging with me. It just so often of late seems that I'm not very important to you. I guess I just want to get out of Hogwarts and get on with a life together, where we don't have to walk up to separate dorms every night and classes, and McGonagall, and the Ministry, and so many things come at the expense of spending alone time together. I want to feel that you have my back, when somebody like Lucius or McGonagall is being mean to me. I want to know, well I guess I do know, but I need to feel that I'm the most important part of your life."

"You are the most important part of my life. I want to marry you and spend the rest of our lives together. I'm sorry that I feel a little awkward in the current circumstances. I certainly don't think of you as a sister. I think of Hermione as a sister. I know the difference. I know I've been a poor boyfriend and neglected you the past weeks. They have been really tough weeks, and I guess I just thought you understood and were there for me, like Molly is there for your father."

"I know that, if we stay together and marry, that we'll eventually settle into that comfort zone that Mom and Dad are in. They're happy with each other and I'm happy for them, although even Mom is starting to feel neglected and that Dad doesn't talk to her like he used to. But we've just been together a few months. Passion shouldn't die away that quickly. I fear it is a very bad sign, when it does."

"I promise you that my passion for you isn't dying away. It's my fault. I haven't shown you how I feel. I've tried to be the proper seventh year and the proper Deputy Minister, and the future son-in-law that your parents would want. Maybe I'm just trying too hard to follow all these rules that I don't even understand. "

Harry grabbed onto me and pulled us together. I could tell that he was really frightened and that he really loved me. We stopped talking and started snogging. I was happy to snog, but regretted that we had stopped talking before Harry agreed to leave Hogwarts with me.

We spent most of the night on the Astronomy tower. It was a very nice snog and Harry did show a fair amount of passion, but one snog can't put all one's problems behind one. At least my mood was improved, as we walked back to Gryffindor hand in hand.

I thought Hermione might be waiting up for us, but the Common Room was empty as we entered. A goodnight hug and kiss and we went up to our separate dorm rooms. I fell into bed fully clothed. The other girls were all sleeping. Even Fawkes was sleeping. It would have been nice if I also could have slept, but I just couldn't.

The morning light arrived and I hauled my tired body out of bed. I felt totally spent.


	76. Chapter 76

**Chapter Seventy-Six - Ambushed**

As we headed down to breakfast the next morning, I knew nothing more about the problems at the Ministry, Harry having at least shown the good sense not to try to talk current events with me. While I appreciated this, I was curious. Harry was waiting in the common room for me, so Hermione quickly snared me on the stairs, "are you and Harry back to a happy place"?

"More or less, but a girl doesn't like to think she has to drag her boyfriend kicking and screaming to the snogging room. We're alright. Harry is just a little slow and shy, but I guess that's just him being Harry, not a reflection upon me. It is frustrating, though. He's afraid of Dad's reaction if he moves to fast. I'm trying to be understanding and let him move at his own pace."

"That's good. For a couple that never snogs in public, you put on an interesting show last night. Ron was sniggering all night about the sister comment."

"You'd better make sure he doesn't say anything about that to Harry."

"Don't worry. We're on your side. Ron is through with harassing Harry about you. Be extra nice to Luna. You and Harry embarrassed her last night and now she's worried that you think she's a slut."

"I don't think badly of Luna. I envy her."

If I thought we had put the matter behind us, I was wrong. We had no sooner stepped out of the fat lady portal when Draco, who had been loitering against the wall of the corridor waiting for us, straightened up and sneered, "What's the matter, Potter? Is that mean girl trying to take advantage of you? Maybe she'd find me more satisfactory."

Pansy was trying to drag Draco away as he continued, "She's just the trashy daughter of a weakling who should never have been elected. She can't even fight and goes around claiming to be a fierce warrior. She's lucky she's alive. Her mother is…" with that I sprang at him, punching him in the nose. He fell back against the wall, a confused expression on his face, as blood ran from his nose into his open mouth.

"Come on Harry, let's get out of here. This ferret isn't worthy of your attention." I grabbed Harry's arm and started to walk away, when I found myself spun around by my shoulder. Draco unleashed an uppercut that caught me on my right eye. I fell to the floor, and then saw Draco trying to kick me in the head. I mainly blocked his kick with my hand, but felt my hand break and felt his foot graze the top of my head. It looked like Draco was about to stomp on my throat, so I rolled away and then I saw Harry leaping upon Draco and pummeling his face. Draco got in a couple of blows, but it looked like Harry was trying to beat him to death. The aurors, Ron, Hermione, and the others moved in to break them apart. They kept swinging at each other, until Hermione used a 'petrificus totalis' on each of them. Barb confiscated her wand after she stunned Harry.

Hermione just stared at Barb, then commented "a little late, aren't you?"

By the time Professors McGonagall, Sprout, and Longbottom arrived, Hermione had gotten her wand back with Barbs' wand resting against her head, and had released the fighters. Draco got in the last taunt, "your girlfriend hits harder than you do, Potter," as Bill pulled him away.

Harry knew enough not to respond, as Professor McGonagall shouted, "That will be enough, Mr. Malfoy. All of you to my office." She was insufficiently clear about defining 'all of you' and about a dozen Gryffindors, Draco, Pansy, and the two aurors followed her to her office. As our parade cleared the steps and the door swung closed behind us, Professor McGonagall rounded on Draco and Harry.

"Exactly what is going on? The two of you promised to set a good example for the students: now I find you brawling in the corridor. You were supposed to be protecting Draco, Harry, not beating him to a pulp. You gave me your promise."

"He punched and kicked Ginny," Harry replied, pointing to my eye, which I could feel must be darkening and severely swelling. "I didn't promise to allow that. I officially take back my promise to protect Draco. He would do best to avoid me."

"She punched me first," Draco charged.

"He sucker punched me and kicked me, while I was on the floor," I indignantly protested.

"I don't approve of punching girls, Mr. Malfoy," Professor McGonagall glared at Draco. "Exactly what did you do to provoke her?"

"I just commented that it was a shame that a trashy girl like her had to keep chasing down Potter to get any snogging and that she might do better if I stepped in for him. She insulted my father last night and I'm going to stand up for my family's honor."

"That is remarkably vulgar, Mr. Malfoy. I think I would have punched you, myself. And I take it you thought it appropriate to say this in front of Pansy? When I told your mother that I would protect you and enlisted Potter and his friends to help, I assumed that not taunting them was an implied part of the bargain. I'm very disappointed in you. I'm very disappointed in all of you. I DO expect you to set an example for the younger students. Now get out of here and go to the infirmary. I think you can all forego breakfast today. Are you drunk, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I may have consumed a bit of brandy."

Bill and Barb walked with us to the infirmary. Pansy wanted to come along, but Barb signaled no, her wand pointed at Pansy's chest. By the time we reached the infirmary, I saw Mom and Mrs. Malfoy coming down the hall toward us. Bill hustled us into the infirmary, while Barb went to intercept Mom and Mrs. Malfoy. By this time, both of Draco's eyes were almost swollen shut, as was one of mine. All three of us had blood dripping from our noses and down the front of our robes. I also had a bleeding scalp wound and Draco was bleeding from his forehead. Bill shoved Draco into a chair and I observed that he was holding Draco's wand. Mom, Narcissa, and Barb entered the infirmary as Madam Pomphrey passed her wand over Harry's nose and instructed him to lie down on a cot for a few minutes. She then worked on Draco for a more considerable time, before moving on to me. While I was waiting to be healed, I had to deal with Mom.

"I can't believe you started a fight with Draco," she lectured me. "Don't interrupt me, I know he taunted you, but you should be mature enough to walk away from that. You know how important the Headmaster and Harry thought it was to reintegrate the Malfoys with the rest of the Wizard community. I think you've pretty much killed that dream. You've been in a bad mood since dinner last night."

"Because I wouldn't suck up to a murdering Death Eater who tried to kill me when I was a defenseless first year? I couldn't bear to see Lucius Malfoy being treated like some heroic figure. He and his son were both Death Eaters, and I'm not going to take that sort of crap from either of them. I would have expected you to understand what Lucius Malfoy is, both in my life and to everyone."

"I do understand, and I don't like him either, but that's not the point. We'll talk later. I just fear you have made Harry's and your father's jobs much harder. I'm disappointed." With that, she moved aside to let Madam Pomphrey get on with the business of putting my body back together. With Madam Pomphrey finished with Draco, his Mom moved in for the attack.

Up until then, I had been comforted by picking up feelings of concern from Harry and occasional whisper comments like {your eye looks really bad. I'm sure Madam Pomphrey can fix it for you. It must really hurt. I'm sorry I didn't drop Draco before he kicked you. You surprised me when you hurled yourself at him.} Mainly what I was receiving from Harry were waves of anger and hatred as he frequently glanced over at Draco. I wasn't entirely sure that Harry wasn't going to attack him again, aurors or no aurors. I was worried enough that I tried to send calming thoughts at Harry. My attention was inevitably drawn to what Mrs. Malfoy was saying.

"What on earth did you think you were doing? I told you to behave yourself and treat the Gryffindors politely. The Headmaster told me what you said, and I think it was horrible. This is your father's influence, isn't it?"

"She insulted father and our family last night. Dad said it was a matter of honor for me not to let her get away with that. As an adult, he couldn't get back at her, but I could. Dad said he expected me to uphold the family honor and not just slink along the ground like you do."

"I don't know what game your father was playing last night. He insulted me, picked a fight, and left our apartment around midnight last night. He said I was letting myself go and turning into a fat cow hiding out here at Hogwarts. You promised me that you wouldn't follow your father's instructions. You were safe here."

"Maybe I agree with Dad that it is cowardly for me to hide away at Hogwarts, shielded by Gryffindors and McGonagall. Maybe he's right that to do so shames our family. I couldn't stand the way she spoke to my father last night. I agreed to stay here only to protect you."

"Just how did you expect her to speak to the man who tried to murder her?"

"He did it for what he believed was a good cause."

"Don't be an idiot. That act also happened to be what angered Voldemort, or didn't you know that? You are not an intelligent drunk. It's useless to talk to you now. I can only hope that when you sober up, you'll be as embarrassed about yourself as I am for you."

"No, I understood what I was doing, and since when are you a Voldemort supporter again?"

"I'm not. I just can't stand to see you regarding one of the stupidest things that Lucius ever did as somehow honorable. She was a first year student. It was nothing more than your father giving in to a nasty, pointless whim."

"I've sided with you up to now, but I wasn't going to let her get away with insulting my father."

"Please, if you actually believe that your father felt insulted by what was said, you're a dumber drunk than I thought. I know for certain that your father deliberately picked a fight. I just haven't figured out why he did it."

Their discussion was stopped by Bill, who said it was time to head back to the Headmaster's office. We walked there in icy silence, with Mom and Narcissa nipping at our heels like angry dogs. Bill knocked on Professor McGonagall's door, and she immediately yelled "enter".

Things quickly went downhill from there. McGonagall was clearly very angry at us and demanded to know exactly what had happened. She had just announced her intention to interview us individually, intimating that she was not above breaking out the Veritaserum if she suspected she was not receiving honest answers, when there was a pfft from the floo fireplace and a note sailed over her head to land on Harry's lap. McGonagall stopped in mid-sentence to glare at Harry, as he opened and read the message.

"It's from the Minister," Harry announced. "I have to get to the Ministry immediately." Harry and the aurors rose immediately and headed for the stairs, to be temporarily halted by McGonagall shouting "Mr. Potter, you'll leave after I get your version of events."

"No, Ma'am," Bill cut her off, "he'll leave right now."

"Mr. Potter, if you leave, you will be expelled."

I felt a frisson of pride as Harry replied flatly, "you do what you feel you must. I've done nothing wrong, and it is my duty to answer the Minister's summons, so I'm leaving."

Professor McGonagall was shocked into a second of silence, before rounding on Bill, as Harry had already started down the stairs, "Then you'll stay and give me your account of what you saw."

"No, Ma'am, my job is to stay with the Deputy Minister and that is exactly what I intend to do. Barb is also coming with us," he hastened to add, as Barb was lingering behind. "We always write a very detailed incident report for Director Shacklebolt. He'll have it by the end of the day. Why don't you ask him for a copy?"

"Don't be impertinent with me, young man. This happened at Hogwarts, and I am in charge of this school. I won't tolerate Ministry interference."

"I don't wish to be impertinent, but I don't work for you and I have my orders. If you object to my actions, you have a right to complain to Director Shacklebolt, but the three of us are leaving now."

With that, Bill followed Harry down the stairs and Barb followed, leaving McGonagall wide-mouthed in indignation. After a couple seconds of silence, Professor McGonagall called after them, "in that case, I'm coming with you. Professor Sprout, you are in charge in my absence."

As Harry, the aurors, and McGonagall vanished from sight, Professor Sprout brought our attention back to herself. "Silence! It falls to me to get to the bottom of this sorry affair, and I'm going to do exactly that. I think I'll start with the question of why Draco was lying in wait for Potter and Miss Granger."

We all went through our stories in elaborate detail. There wasn't a lot of disagreement or new information. Draco told us that he had been called down to the Gryffindor common room a little after 2:00 A.M. by Bill, the auror, who informed him that his father insisted upon speaking to him immediately. Draco had walked down to the common room and found his father looking very agitated. Lucius had told him that he had come to Hogwarts in good faith to visit his family, but that Professor McGonagall had allowed me to get away with insulting him. Lucius had remained civil, but had felt deeply insulted. He told Draco that it hurt him very deeply for his wife and son to see him subjected to such rude insults from someone of as little worth as myself, and say nothing. He had been invited to Professor McGonagall's office and had behaved impeccably, even after the insult. He had asked Draco to do the honorable thing and stand up for his father. He had asked why Draco was so weak that he hid behind his mother and Gryffindors and why he took his mother's side, despite how terribly she had just treated him, back at her apartment.

Draco said he hadn't been at all sure how he intended to respond to the mistreatment of his father. He wandered the corridors and then returned and stood outside of Gryffindor for several hours until we appeared. He said he hadn't intended to start a fight, simply to demand an explanation of what had been done to his father. He would have gone back to bed or to the Common Room, but he wasn't sure the aurors would allow him in, couldn't remember the password, and felt a traitor to his father to be sleeping in Gryffindor. Then he saw us all smiley, as if nothing untoward had happened during the prior twelve hours, and became very angry. He hadn't meant to insult me, he thought he was insulting Harry and wanted to fight Harry. He didn't "feel all that bad, though, because it was your father's aurors, likely under his orders, who mistreated my father."

Barb and Bill had confiscated Lucius's wand when he entered our Common Room, but had allowed the father and son privacy for their discussion. It must not have been until that discussion became loud and animated that they heard his father's comments, and Draco felt he would be viewed as a helpless weakling by everyone if he didn't defend his family's honor. Draco said he was also incensed to find that his father's wand had been confiscated, and that he appeared to have been arrested by the aurors, and even more incensed when Barb had said she would not allow Lucius to instigate a fight and had forcibly led him away, while Bill had sternly warned Draco against following through on his father's attempts to provoke a fight. Draco had not seen his father after that.

Draco said he reacted rashly to the total unfairness of what had happened the prior night. Professor Sprout snorted at this.

The rest of us told our tales. Mom and Narcissa apologized on behalf of their offspring, which neither of us took especially well. Professor Sprout said she would leave it to the Headmaster, but that we should all expect detentions. She included Hermione in this category, saying she clearly should not have used curses on fellow students in a Hogwarts corridor. Hermione did not look happy about this, so Professor Sprout elaborated. "We may all know what great pals you and Harry are, but it is very foolish to fire a curse at the Deputy Minister in the presence of two of his aurors. You could have been arrested, injured, or even killed. I'm surprised they didn't attack you. And you know the rules about fighting with wands. You should have let the aurors sort things out. That is their job." Hermione seemed to acquiesce and agree that she deserved detention.

We missed our morning classes, leaving the Headmaster's office just in time for lunch. One of the gate aurors had come to the office to guard us and was keeping a very close watch on the Malfoys, who had not regained possession of their wands. Narcissa seemed to recognize that this was a sign of some considerable difficulty for her family. Mom continued to glare at me.

Harry did not return during the course of our lunch but, at the end of the meal, Professor McGonagall and Barb came into the Great Hall and joined our table. McGonagall somberly informed us that she was no longer Headmaster and that Neville had been placed in temporary charge, pending a full investigation and a meeting of the Governors.

I must have looked very surprised, because McGonagall continued, "That order came directly from your father. Shacklebolt complained that I had interfered with aurors doing their job of protecting Harry, and that I had permitted a dangerous Death Eater to come into Hogwarts and enter Gryffindor with a wand, leading directly to what he said likely was an attempt to assassinate Harry. I told him that he was behaving as if we were at war. I don't know what is going on at the Ministry, but I felt a chill when Kingsley replied, 'I'm not at all sure that we aren't at war, woman, and you certainly have no way of knowing that we aren't. It isn't your place to decide whether or not the Minister and I have sufficient reason to summon the Deputy Minister. It certainly isn't your place to order my aurors about or tell them to neglect their duties. That could be viewed as treason, especially since your pet project to domesticate a family of three Death Eaters almost got Harry killed'.

"I offered Arthur my resignation and he told me that this time he was going to accept it. He said my little experiment with the Malfoys had almost ended in disaster and that I then tried to separate Harry from his aurors and put him at risk of another assassination attempt.

"I was overwrought and handled the whole situation poorly. Lucius is in custody and Madam Bones has revoked his parole. I think they are going to send him to Azkaban this time. Shacklebolt and the Minister are as angry as I've ever seen them and Harry was furious. I hoped he would defend me, but he did not. I think that I have no friends left at the Ministry."

"That's not fair," Draco shouted. "My father did nothing seriously wrong. He just spouted off at me a little, because he felt he had been insulted. He didn't promise to be meek and ignore all manner of insults."

"Listen, you little ferret," I pointed my finger at him, "I said nothing at all to your father until he prodded me to speak. Then I was very mild in describing his numerous crimes. Those weren't insults. Calling people filthy Mudbloods as you and your father did – those are insults. Your father more than earned a lifetime in Azkaban. It was at Harry's urging that he was released from jail. This is how you thank Harry. You're worse than a ferret."

"He apparently had Bellatrix's wand in his possession when he entered the common room," McGonagall informed Draco. "That is very suspicious. The Minister thinks he wanted to assassinate Harry. The Minister told me that the Malfoy experiment is at an end. He sent Barb back to Hogwarts with me to arrest Draco, as well. Arthur fears that he was also involved in the assassination attempt."

"No!" Narcissa wailed.

The gate auror seized Draco and led him away.

"I'm afraid," McGonagall told Narcissa, "that Lucius's highly suspicious actions occurred at a time of serious security problems and tension at the Ministry. The Minister doesn't think this is a coincidence. We had persuaded him against his initial judgment to let Lucius off lightly as a reconciliation gesture, and to allow me to shelter Draco and you. Kingsley has argued against this position from the start. Arthur now believes that he made a mistake, and Harry said that the Malfoys had shown their true colors. The Minister is also not at all happy with me for trying to delay Harry's return to the Ministry. I admit that I was wrong in that. It is the Headmasters first duty, after protecting the students, to guard Hogwarts against Ministry interference. In the heat of the moment, I thought I was honoring those two imperatives."

"Where are they taking Draco?" Narcissa asked.

"I don't know. I think just to the Ministry jail for now. He was an active Death Eater, and Shacklebolt has never forgiven him for attacking Dumbledore. As you know, Director Shacklebolt and others in the Order believed anyone bearing Voldemort's mark on their arm should automatically be sent to Azkaban for life. That initially was to be one of the planks in Kingsley's election platform. Harry was the one who persuaded Kingsley to drop that idea. I don't know what Harry is thinking now. I'm not sure how this will end. I'm going to go to my apartment to lie down. Headmaster Longbottom will tell you all what to do."

**Original text**

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	77. Chapter 77

**Chapter Seventy-Seven – The Slytherins Have Us Fighting Each Other**

We all looked at Neville, who appeared to be in a state of shock. After a longish silence, Neville told us, "after you finish lunch, everyone should go about your schedule as normal. The important thing is to keep the students calm and on a normal schedule. Please get back to me immediately if you sense any problems with the students in your classes or in the Houses which you supervise. If they see us in this condition, it will surely frighten them. Perhaps Professor Granger could drop into Gryffindor on my behalf, since I'm tied up here.

"I realize that the aurors don't work for me, but if I could ask one of you to check and make sure that Hogwarts' magical defenses are still prohibiting apparating on or off the grounds, I would feel better. Since we don't know what the Ministry emergency is, we don't know whether or not we are in danger here at Hogwarts. All staff and special students should keep your wands handy. I want Ron and Hermione and Luna and George to be ready to spring into action as fighting teams, if need be. Now, I want to see Ginny in my office. I'll meet with Mrs. Malfoy and Hermione right after that. I need to speak to the Headmaster, er to Professor McGonagall, but I don't want to do that until she is more composed."

I grabbed some dessert cookies, stuffed them into my robes and followed Neville to his new office. Pansy asked if she could come along and meet with us for a few minutes. Neville looked uncertain, so I asked him "please," and he said Pansy could join the start of our meeting.

Once inside the office, Pansy pleaded "I know that Draco wasn't part of a plot to kill Harry. He never even tried to draw his wand. It's clear to me that his father knows how to rile him up and goad him into taking a stupid action. You saw how drunk Draco was. I admit he was looking for a fight, but if he wanted to harm Harry seriously, he would have used his wand. He could have attacked him in his sleep. Can you make your father see that Draco is guilty of nothing more than a stupid school fight?"

"He tried to kick and stomp me in the head. He hates me. I can't trust him."

"I agree that was very wrong. You saw I tried to pull him away before the fight started. I don't think he even wanted to fight you. He was hoping Potter would jump him, but you jumped him first. He got innocently and stupidly swept up in some plot of his father's."

"I'll see what I can do. I don't think he was trying to murder Harry. But I also can't believe he was allowed to sleep in the same room as Harry and my brothers. In retrospect, this whole be-friends-with-Draco thing seems very stupid and very dangerous. I have no idea why you're permitted to be at Hogwarts and why McGonagall allows you and Draco to clearly flout the rules, while picking on Harry and me. I'm not much happier with you than I am with Draco or McGonagall."

"Draco wasn't any threat until his father came on this visit. He was doing his best to fit in, and appreciated that you were treating us as well as you were. I don't understand why he suddenly became so nasty to you, but that is a different offense than trying to murder the Deputy Minister. If he's found guilty of that, they'll ship him to Azkaban. This was just a silly school fight. I admit we had fun making a joke of McGonagall's rules and that we laughed when she came down on you. That's nothing more serious than school pranks. We wouldn't harm you. Draco doesn't deserve to go to Azkaban."

"No, it was not just a silly school fight. Draco is old enough to have already graduated, so he is more adult than student. This wasn't some spontaneous response to an insult. Draco plotted this and waited a long time in the corridor to ambush us. He had been specifically warned by a Ministry auror not to do this. For all we know, the only reason he didn't use his wand is because it had already been confiscated."

"Then how could it be a serious assassination attempt for an unarmed Draco to go up against Harry, you, your friends, and two aurors? It just doesn't make any sense."

"On that much, I agree with you."

Neville decided that Pansy had said all she could say, and shooed her out of the office.

"I'm not sure that I can say you truly over-reacted, but a little more self-control on your part might have saved us all a world of trouble. You've been in a bad mood ever since I told you that you weren't going to be Quidditch Captain. That wasn't even my decision. Headmaster McGonagall didn't want you spending the amount of time that the Captain must spend. I know you think you deserved to be Captain, but you have a lot of other things on your plate."

"I was having a bad day long before Quidditch practice. Professor Celine had let it slip that Jimmy was Captain prior to that, and prior to that McGonagall had also not made me a Prefect, but I admit that practice didn't help my mood. I don't have all that much else on my plate. McGonagall has as near as killed off Quidditch for this term. Our team will play only two games. The amount of extra work to be Captain, rather than just the Seeker, isn't all that much. She just wanted to deny me the honor. She just won't treat me fairly. She resents that I have as much influence over Harry as she does and resents me for being my father's daughter. She thinks that she should have his job, although she lacked the courage to actually enter the election.

"I really don't think any of that matters. Lucius came to Hogwarts to cause trouble. He couldn't possibly have been that upset about what I said to him in McGonagall's office. He had some ulterior motive for inciting Draco to start a fight. And McGonagall had some ulterior motive in fawning all over Lucius last night and throwing the number one Death Eater next to Voldemort in our faces. I can't imagine you enjoyed watching that any more than I did."

"No, I most certainly did not enjoy that," Neville agreed. "I think you're right. I'm just very saddened by all that has happened. I believed in Professor McGonagall's vision for achieving reconciliation and peace among all Wizards. The Malfoys were the key to that. Now her dream, which I believe Dumbledore shared, has been destroyed. I fear even Professor McGonagall, herself, has been ruined."

"I'm sorry if you think I'm responsible for all of this," I told him, "but I don't think I really am. I admit that I was feeling very frustrated, but I don't think I was out of control. I'm not one to just stand there and take the insults Draco was throwing at me. It is also very clear that if I didn't rise to that particular bait that Draco would have done something else to provoke us. He wanted a fight! I didn't draw my wand, I just punched him in the nose. Witches have been slapping or punching guys who say stuff like that for as long as there have been Witches."

"That's definitely true, and I won't argue that Draco didn't have it coming, but everyone now bears the consequences, and it isn't pretty.

"I understand that you're very action oriented. I also understand, far better than Professor McGonagall was able to understand, the true nature of this year's student body. The Headmaster assumed that her problems would come from the returning eighteen year olds, and that Harry and Ron would be the most uncontrollable. Harry and Ron matured a lot from their experiences last year. What the Headmaster didn't realize was that the trouble would come from this year's returning sixth and seventh years: like you, and like I would have been had I come back as a student like Harry was.

"Having lived through the Carrows, we've lost respect for the institution of Hogwarts. We see its rules as petty and vindictive. Even strictures from one as good-hearted as McGonagall are suspect.

"I find myself constantly trying to refocus myself and find the Hogwarts that used to exist, or at least that I thought I knew. Even before the Carrows arrived, there was Umbridge and there was Snape. Snape may have been Dumbledore's spy, but I believe he did far more harm than good. A whole generation of Voldemort soldiers was nurtured by Snape. He played the double agent role far too well. I hope the intelligence he gave Dumbledore was truly vital, because he was always a big roadblock in Harry's way. He had his whole house come back to Hogwarts and fight for Voldemort. How many students were killed by the Slytherins? I have no warm feeling for Snape.

"I also have no warm feeling for Lucius Malfoy, but I beat down my loathing of the man, because I believe in the Headmaster's plan. More than anyone, she primed you to go off on Malfoy. I saw your reaction when the Headmistress marooned you at the end of the table and Harry was chatting it up with Malfoy. I didn't want to take the seat, which Harry had saved for you, but I had no choice. She doesn't mean badly, she just still sees you as the same fifth year that you were before the Carrows. You're not that same person, and not just because you're older. You have an obligation to be strong, just as I do.

"It's not just McGonagall's plan that you scuttled. It's also Harry's plan, and to a lesser extent your father's. You are Harry's girlfriend and the Minister's daughter, so everything you do will always be magnified, and enemies will always be goading you to make a misstep. You have to realize that Shacklebolt has your father's ear. Most of the things that Harry and McGonagall, and I think you, support to bring the community together are opposed by Shacklebolt. He was in the fight against Voldemort for a long time and he was nearly murdered and, like you, he is a fighter. His instinct is to go for revenge. I don't think you're seeking revenge. I think you were thrown off guard by Draco's comments, because we had let down our guard and stopped thinking of him as the enemy. That was probably part of their strategy. I'm very sorry that I had a part in this by denying you the Quidditch captaincy."

"You sort of get it, but you don't quite. Lucius and Draco were determined to have a fight and nothing any of us could have done would have prevented that. It is also totally clear that Draco started the fight. He and Lucius are known Death Eaters and they behaved as Death Eaters behave. This impossible dream that everyone had to rebuild the Wizarding world around reformed Malfoys didn't die when I punched Draco. It died when Lucius broke the bargain and goaded his son to attack us. I doubt Lucius ever intended to stick to the bargain. He would have to be a truly reformed good Wizard to stick to it, and in your heart, I think you know as well as I do that he is still an evil Wizard.

"I'm not sure I'm going to stay at Hogwarts. If I can convince Harry to leave, I'll go with him, regardless of what Mom says. I'm tired of being treated like a little girl. I'm good enough to play Quidditch with the Harpies and if I can't do it here, that's what I'll do. The other mistake you make is in thinking that I ever supported the Malfoy experiment as much as McGonagall does. I see it as just more manipulation by the Malfoys to get what they want."

"I think that's a mistake and hope you'll rethink it. If I may be blunt, but since we are old friends and fought on the same side, I need to say it: I think you want to run away because you realize how much that 'sister' comment that you blurted out is going to haunt Harry if you both stay here. That was unfortunate, but the two of you shouldn't change your plans for the year, just because of a little embarrassment.

"Now, if you're agreeable, I think we should hear what Narcissa wants to say. Even before we do that, I think you should try to phone Harry or your father and try to find out what is happening at the Ministry."

I dialed them both, and even Percy, getting voicemail and leaving an urgent messages to call me back. I did reach Callista, but all she said was that she couldn't possibly disturb them, but she'd urge Harry to call me at the first break. I was getting really worried about what might be happening at the Ministry and could tell that Neville's fears went up a notch when I was unable to reach anyone.

Neville decided to let in Ron and Hermione, as well as Narcissa. It was clear from her demeanor that Narcissa recognized that her plans were now ashes. She was extremely frightened, and extremely angry and bitter at the same time. "Lucius wanted this to happen. Not being arrested himself, but causing a big incident so that Draco would be forced to leave Hogwarts with him. I'll never forgive him for this. But I have to try to do whatever I can to save Draco. Pansy tells me that Ginny is willing to put in a word on his behalf."

"I am not a friend of Draco. He attacked me and tried to stomp my throat. That was while I was treating him well and helping to protect him from the Death Eaters. Your husband tried to murder me. Draco spent years taunting and making life miserable for me and my friends. I would consider suggesting that he not be sent to Azkaban," I said, "but that is mainly because Azkaban is so unimaginably horrible. I'm not at all happy with Draco, and I do see him as a Death Eater who has reverted to his true colors. He may not be on good terms with his old buddies, but he still thinks like them. He is the only Death Eater I know of who has gotten off absolutely free for all his misdeeds. He even gets our protection. I think this was largely your husband's fault. I have no idea when or even if Harry is coming back to Hogwarts. Shacklebolt and my father think this was all an assassination plot."

"I really don't think it is. Lucius and I are driven to do crazy things in our fight over Draco and how to best protect him."

"That's another thing," I told her. "You have always been less than candid with us. You got Draco's wand and hid it, while you knew we were searching for it, and refused to tell Harry what additional leverage you were seeking over the Death Eaters. Harry took a big risk by letting you hide out at his house and giving you an Elf whom he knew was loyal to you. I think you've betrayed Harry's trust more than once. So I'm not at all sure I want to help you. What I know for sure about last night is that you let a former Death Eater go wandering unattended around the school, armed with Bellatrix's wand, when the rest of us thought he was with you. You definitely should have alerted someone that Lucius was on the prowl."

"In retrospect, I should have. I just thought it was an embarrassing family fight, and didn't want to involve outsiders. I'm sorry that I was so secretive, but I still need your help. I think you know deep down that Draco isn't an irredeemably bad person. You're the only one who can help Draco. Harry was getting along with him, but when Draco attacked you, Harry hated him again. You're the only one who can tell Harry that it's okay to stop hating Draco."

"I said I'm willing to put in a word about Azkaban, but I also know that he kicked me in the head and tried to stomp my face. I don't have any warm feelings for Draco. We treated him well and he betrayed us."

"I know that. I still don't understand what Lucius did to make Draco so irrational. He did not behave like the Draco that I know."

"Everybody's plans seem to have been destroyed by what happened this morning," Hermione told us. "This could be the end of Hogwarts. If Lucius wanted to destroy the vestiges of the Order, he has succeeded brilliantly. But unless he really has been a loyal Death Eater all along, I don't see what he has gained or what he could have hoped to gain. He and his son are in prison, nobody in the Ministry is likely to support leniency this time around, so he's totally destroyed the Malfoy family. It only makes sense if he assumes he can escape with Draco from Azkaban and live in the Muggle world. It's not logical for him to think that."

There was a knock on the door and McGonagall and Trelawney entered. It was obvious that both had been crying. "The faculty have assembled in the Great Hall," Professor McGonagall said. "I know the Minister said that Neville is in charge, but I thought we should all meet to decide what we can do to save this school, and the Order, and your circle. Since ownership of this office is contentious, I thought we should meet in the Great Hall, where nobody has to be in charge."

"I know it's temporary, but I AM in charge," Neville told her a little coolly. "The ownership of this office is not contentious. You voluntarily resigned your position and the Minister asked me to fill in. I've been trying to patch up a mess that is partly of your making. I think it is too early to get the staff together – I don't think anything good can come of it, while emotions are so high and we don't yet have all the facts. But, you've done what you've done and I guess I have no choice but to attend your little meeting, no matter how briefly."

"That's fine," Hermione said, "but we're not meeting with the Slytherins present."

Professor McGonagall asked Narcissa to find Pansy and go and wait in Narcissa's apartment. "Your situation can only improve if we can reach some sort of agreement, and that can't happen with you present. None of the students trust you. I trust you, but I can't help you unless you leave us alone." We walked to the Great Hall and took seats.

"I can see that you are both very upset and need to talk," Hermione said. "I don't mind discussing and planning, but I'm not willing to do any deciding until Harry gets back." Ron and I immediately agreed with Hermione and Neville backed us up.

"Very well," Professor McGonagall replied, "we can meet on those terms. I realize your loyalties lie with your circle and the Ministry. Mine may differ. Whatever solution we may propose, the Minister, Shacklebolt, and Harry hold all the power. The Ministry has effectively taken control of Hogwarts."

"That's an extreme exaggeration," Hermione replied. "You tried a mini-coup, you failed, and the Minister reasserted control. Why would you think you could prevent the Minister from summoning Harry to respond to an emergency, or that you could order aurors to stop protecting Harry? The Minister didn't fire you: you resigned in a big huff over imaginary slights.

"It's natural that the Minister and Shacklebolt think you have committed something close to treason and become a part of whatever conspiracy the Malfoys were part of. Your behavior was so illogical that they don't trust you. If the investigation shows you weren't part of the conspiracy, then they'll just put your involvement down to a temporary over-reaction and putting too much faith in your Malfoy conversion, lay down some ground rules, and reinstate you. If you were part of a conspiracy to murder Harry, then I'll kill you myself. In any case, it is as clear to me as it must have been to the Minister that you are presently in no emotional condition to be running Hogwarts.

"You made certain agreements with us when we agreed to return to Hogwarts. Now, when we've fully held up our end of the bargain, you throw a snit when the Malfoys cheat on your arrangement with them, and decide that you're going to treat Harry like a first year and discipline him for the crime of not allowing your darling Draco to stomp on Ginny's face after kicking her in the head. We share Harry's view and we're all quite willing to leave Hogwarts to you. We're even more willing to leave it to Neville. You've broken our deal." Hermione took a breath and sat back slightly.

"I may have over-reacted," replied McGonagall, "but I did what I did to defend Hogwarts and to protect it from Ministry interference. Harry and the Minister agreed not to interfere, but there has been a constant stream of interference. You agreed to set a good example for the younger students, not brawl in the corridors. If Harry, Ginny, and Draco are allowed to brawl in the corridor without my taking an extremely strong stand, then Hogwarts becomes uncontrollable and none of the students or their parents will ever feel safe.

"Harry and Ginny were severely provoked, but they put me in an impossible position. I realized that Draco was almost certainly ninety percent at fault, but I had a duty to exhibit evenhanded fairness and not take Harry's side before a thorough investigation was completed. I must have control of investigations of incidents involving the students.

"I concede that I failed to properly consider that the Minister wouldn't have summoned Harry without a very good reason, but it was important to resolve the facts around the brawl quickly. Failing to do so would have had very serious consequences for Hogwarts, especially at this critical time when parents and students remain frightened and most of the Slytherin students haven't returned. If they don't come back at the Christmas break, then Hogwarts may be irreparably broken. If I appeared to side with Harry by not be giving Draco a fair hearing, which would certainly be the case if I grilled Draco while allowing Harry to skip away to the Ministry, then the Slytherins would decide that I was biased against them, and there would be no Slytherins at Hogwarts. And to respond directly to Hermione, I did not break our deal, as you say: I exempted the eighteen year olds from minor school rules. I did not promise to excuse brawling in the corridors. I did not exempt Miss Weasley from any rules. I thought we shared a dream for the rebirth of Hogwarts and the Wizard community. Your actions have shattered that dream."

"That seems an extreme position to me," Professor Celine interjected. "Even I was able to observe last night what an evil and smug Wizard Mr. Malfoy still is. I don't see any real change in him. If he was less than a fully committed Death Eater, it was only because his full commitment was always to his own self-interest and his little pleasures. Why can't you see that? Given the various actors in this mess, I know whom I'd trust and support. I agree with you that there is quite a lot of good left in Draco, but he acted very badly. I don't know why he did so, but I know it wasn't Harry's or Ginny's fault. I also know that you haven't treated Ginny fairly for some time. For anyone to claim that Lucius was gravely insulted by Ginny is preposterous."

"I'm not sure that a brand new faculty member really…" Professor McGonagall began.

"You wanted people to share their views. Let her speak," Neville cut off McGonagall.

"Well, this is my faculty meeting and…"

"No, this is not your faculty meeting. You called the meeting, without the authority to do so. For now, I'm the headmaster, and if there is to be a faculty meeting, and I'm not at all sure this is the time for one, then I will lead the meeting. Did you have anything else to say, Professor Celine?"

"Only that I think it important for the core group that fought the Death Eaters to stick together and not allow an action by former or current Death Eaters, which was clearly meant to be a provocation, to drive us apart."

"Thank you Professor Celine. I don't want the other beginning professors to feel stifled, so if they have any comments…. Professor Henkel."

"At Durmstrang, only the view of the headmaster counts. That is you. I happen to agree with you that now is not the time to issue solidarity statement."

"Thank you. Professor Weasley?"

"I just hope nobody says something they'll regret after they have had a chance to cool down and engage in sober reflection. I can't imagine we'd issue a solidarity statement challenging the Ministry before even hearing the Ministry's side of things or learning the nature of the current emergency. I may be prejudiced as Arthur's wife, but I don't see anything that the Ministry has done which is so horrible that it should cause us to rise up in solidarity. The former Headmaster may regret the hastiness of her resignation, but Arthur can't be blamed for accepting something which was freely and defiantly proffered."

"Thank you. Professor Granger?"

"I don't think it's appropriate to comment at this time."

"Professor Sprout, do you have anything to add?"

"After the head… er Professor McGonagall departed for the Ministry, I interviewed all of the students. Draco admits instigating the fight. It clearly was premeditated and it clearly was at least strongly encouraged, if not ordered, by his father. Draco admitted to drinking brandy and struck me as quite drunk. My biggest question is why in the world the aurors didn't intervene sooner. A Death Eater brutally beating the Minister's daughter…. I thought it was their job to prevent that sort of thing. Potter had no choice but to intervene. Draco was unbearably smug during the whole interview."

Barb quickly spoke up. "I know that I have no legitimate voice here and am just supposed to be an invisible fly on the wall, but I must apologize for the slowness with which Bill and I responded to the fight. After the events of the night, we should have been on our guard, but unfortunately lapsed into the mode of treating Draco as just another student and an almost-friend of Harry and Ginny. That won't happen again. Director Shacklebolt has informed me very precisely that this will not happen again. The auror corps views Draco as a threat to the Deputy Minister, and we will treat him as such. That is, if he ever returns from jail."

McGonagall appeared quite distressed by this.

"Professor Flitwick?"

"Hogwarts hasn't been the same since that Umbridge woman arrived. I remember Draco and the other Slytherin boys terrorizing the other students. They even terrorized me. I'm very glad that he is no longer at Hogwarts."

"Professor Hagrid, did you have anything to say?"

"Just that yer can't go wrong trusting Harry. Dumbledore always trusted him and he's the best Headmaster Hogwarts ever 'ad. I don't like Malfoy. He's always making trouble in my class. No manners at all. Almost got Buckbeak killed. Just 'fer spite it were."

"Professor Trelawney?"

"You know that I support Minerva. That does not mean that I also support the Malfoys. My approach there has been to smile and suck it up for the greater good. We probably need to continue doing that, if we want to truly put an end to the Voldemort wars, but the Malfoys can't be allowed to continue breaking the rules. That is no more reconciliation than retribution would be. We can't be begging the Malfoys to stay at Hogwarts. That said, Minerva's vision is worth certain sacrifices and I've made more than my share. Neville, I think it very unfair of the Ministry to put you in Professor McGonagall's place. Unfair to both of you."

"We have another new professor who isn't even allowed to be at this meeting," Professor McGonagall complained. "I think Narcissa has a right to be heard."

Neville's facial expression and tone of voice indicated a great effort to hide his annoyance. "I told you that I would not permit the meeting you called if Narcissa were to be present. Her son and husband have been arrested on charges of suspected treason and attempting to assassinate the Deputy Minister. Narcissa let her husband wander the corridors at night, with Bellatrix's wand, without alerting any of us. I think it quite appropriate that she sit out this meeting until the intent of her family is sorted out by the Ministry. You agreed that she would not attend."

"That was before a Eighth Year girl and new professors were allowed to voice their views. I think everyone, including Narcissa, should be heard. If the actions of some present here have broken the dream of reconciling the various Wizard factions, then I think the Witch at the center of that reconciliation project should be heard."

"I don't think anyone here was the responsible party in breaking that dream," Neville replied curtly.

"Not primarily responsible, I agree," McGonagall conceded, "but certainly largely contributory." She was looking straight at me as she said that.

"No!" I exclaimed. "You just won't listen to anyone who questions your pretty vision of the Malfoys. Your actions have broken the dream. You've feted a leading Death Eater in the same manner as the Goblin King: a Death Eater who tortured Hermione and tried to murder me. You expect us to treat a criminal like Lucius Malfoy as some sort of hero. Well, he isn't. He may or may not be an active Death Eater, but he and Draco definitely betrayed all of us. You're trying to create a moral equivalence between two student brawlers, when one is a Death Eater picking a fight with the Deputy Minister and the other is a Deputy Minister minding his own business and protecting his girlfriend from a savage attack by a Death Eater. If that's your sense of fairness, I don't intend to stay here."

"I think you're speaking from over emotion as much as I did when I tried to separate Harry from his aurors," McGonagall icily responded.

"I didn't ask to be Headmaster, and I know I'm not qualified to be Headmaster, but the Minister has temporarily given me the job," Neville stated. "So, I'm going to lead this meeting. Most of us have heard the facts from the students' perspective. We've now heard Headmaster, er Professor McGonagall's view of the situation. We all must recognize that none of the actors in this sorry affair knew even a fraction of what we all know now, when they took the actions that we are now discussing.

"Based upon what the students themselves said, we know that Draco deliberately ambushed Harry and Ginny and started the fight. We know that he did this at his father's instigation. We know that Harry left our Common Room with no intention of fighting anyone and, in fact, did not enter the fight until Draco had already knocked Ginny to the ground and kicked her in the head. We know that all of us pledged to help and protect Draco and Narcissa.

"I think everyone here," and at this point he was staring directly at McGonagall, "knows that all of us, but especially Harry, have done exactly that. Harry and Ginny's brothers have willingly slept in the same bedroom as Draco, even though Draco had possession of his wand. That was a terrible thing for Professor McGonagall to ask of them, but they did it, and I think only because she asked them to do so. I think everyone knows that Draco and his parents pledged to be on their good behavior. We all know that they have broken that pledge. These facts are undisputed.

"In the light of all of these facts, Professor McGonagall's treatment of Harry seems grossly unfair, but we have to realize that she didn't have all of these facts at the time. We also have to realize that she instantly realized how damaging that brawl was going to be to Hogwarts, and to her plan to use the rehabilitation of the Malfoys to reconcile the Wizard community. That was a vision that I shared and that I know Harry and the Minister shared. I think quite a few others shared the vision. We know that Kingsley Shacklebolt was staunchly opposed to this approach and must have constantly argued against it. I think part of Professor McGonagall's over-reaction was caused by her knowledge of how Shacklebolt would use this incident. Those fears have been borne out. I'll ask first if anybody disagrees with the facts and situation as I have summarized them. Does anyone disagree?"

Nobody did, or at least nobody was willing to publicly voice their disagreement.

"I'm not sure what we can do with this information, until we learn what is happening at the Ministry," Neville concluded. "But if anyone wants to suggest a path forward or even comment on the significance of the facts in my summary, I guess now is the time to do it."

"I think Neville, um the Headmaster, has fairly summarized the situation," Professor McGonagall began. "Now the important things are number one to develop an agreed position so that we can protect the future of Hogwarts, and um number two, to avoid excessive Ministry interference. I say that, realizing that the Ministry will need to take some action, but I hope not actions that will change the nature of Hogwarts. Third, I still hope that there is a way to support the rehabilitation of Draco and reconciliation within the Wizard community. I fervently hope that there can be a way for Slytherins to feel safe returning to Hogwarts."

There was a long silence, with nobody wanting to voice an opinion. Neville finally broke the silence, "Exactly what would you suggest? Before you do though, let me say that I am not at all sure that it would be a good thing for the older Slytherins to return to Hogwarts, after terrorizing the rest of the students."

"I was hoping the others would express their views," McGonagall replied. "I'd hope that we all feel that Hogwarts is worth saving."

"I think we all agree Hogwarts is worth saving," Neville responded. "The question is whether doing anything beyond calming ourselves and the students makes any sense before we hear back from the Ministry."

"Well then if you all love Hogwarts, then I guess I was looking for a joint statement of solidarity to stand up against Ministry interference and preserve the Hogwarts we all love, with some necessary changes to update the curriculum. It doesn't need to be elaborate, or overly aggressive, just something to let the Minister know that I have the support of the faculty and that we are willing to keep working together to save our school and also to try to rehabilitate the Malfoys."

There were a few seconds of silence, so I spoke. "I'm the only regular student here. It is not at all clear to me that the student position will be the same as the faculty's position. I'm not out for revenge, but a lot of bad things happened at Hogwarts last year, and recurred just in the past twenty four hours with the Malfoys.

"Saving the Malfoys is not top on my list of things to commit to in solidarity. The Slytherins and many of the faculty terrorized and even tortured the non-Slytherin students. I think there is a difference between choosing not to seek revenge and having to go out of your way to be extra nice and win back the support of the people who terrorized you just a few short months ago. The lower level Slytherins didn't participate in our persecution, and that is what it was, but I'm not at all convinced that it is anything other than a very good thing that the Slytherin upper levels haven't returned. Many of the other students would be frightened if they returned and many of the older students will take revenge. I can promise you that this will happen.

"I know the way that I think about Hogwarts will never be the same as it was before last term or even before Dolores Umbridge. The Hogwarts faculty and Headmasters have allowed the Slytherin students and their House advisor to treat the other students very poorly ever since I've been here. The other professors treated all of us pretty much fairly, but Snape never treated the non-Slytherins fairly.

"After last year, the House cup, winning and losing House points, all the persnickety little rules, frankly they mean nothing to me. Events have made them beyond silly. Professor McGonagall is asking that I oppose Harry, and my father, and the Ministry, and, really, most of the people who defeated Voldemort and suffered to oppose him, on behalf of a vision of Hogwarts that doesn't exist and hasn't for at least several years.

"I think it was really stupid and presumptuous to ask Harry and my brothers to share a room with Draco. I shudder to think how close Harry came to being murdered. I don't care if I get expelled. It just isn't fair to expect me to treat a man like Lucius Malfoy with great respect. He tried to murder me and he tortured my friend. Whatever happens, I don't think Draco and Pansy can ever be allowed back into Gryffindor.

"The first and second year Slytherins are cute now, but I'm not sure that they'll be safe either, when they're four or five years older. Almost all of the Slytherins came back to Hogwarts to fight for Voldemort. They killed other students. Reconciliation is good in theory, but it will not be easy to welcome them back.

"To conclude, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but we've heard Professor McGonagall's view of the situation. I don't think it's fair to develop any positions of solidarity against the Ministry until we also hear my father's position, and Harry's position, and even Kingsley Shacklebolt's position. The staff can rush out and issue a statement of solidarity, but the rest of the Wizard world is just going to think that you rushed to take a stand before even finding out what the facts are. Neville and I have left messages at the Ministry for Harry, or Percy, or my father to call back. I suggest that we not do anything until then. Whether or not the Malfoys are to be rehabilitated is not a decision for Hogwarts to make. They are rightfully in the custody of the Ministry. Their past crimes are well known and now they have violated the agreement by which they have been allowed to go free. What happens to them is a matter for the Ministry and the Wizengamot, not the faculty of Hogwarts."

"I can't disagree with that," Headmaster Longbottom said. "I've thought for some time that most of the faculty doesn't realize how much the students were changed by the events of last year. Hogwarts isn't the same and it probably shouldn't be. My views on the upper level Slytherins returning are exactly the same as Ginny's. Plus we have the ghost of Voldemort to worry about. I can't see any good coming out of the return of the Slytherin fifth through seventh years. I would go farther than to say that Draco can't remain in Gryffindor. I don't see how he can return to Hogwarts."

"I think that is an over-reaction, um Headmaster," Professor McGonagall replied.

"I'm not so sure it's an over-reaction," Professor Sprout said. "It's hard to believe he'll do anything other than cause more trouble, if he returns to Hogwarts. I think you've enforced a double standard to Potter's disadvantage. Harry and Ginny have scrupulously stuck to your prohibition against public displays of affection, while Draco and Pansy have been rather obvious about their affection as they lie around under the trees, yet you have said nothing. I think your determination that the reconciliation succeed has blinded you to fairness. It's probably academic, anyway. Draco may be in jail for quite some time. Our only decision is whether or not to throw him out of Hogwarts. We cannot command the Ministry to release him from jail."

"If we're speaking freely," Professor Flitwick said "I wasn't pleased to see a man like Lucius Malfoy treated as an honored guest last night. That is why I didn't come up to the Headmaster's office. He invaded us twice in a few months."

"It wasn't my intention to honor the man," Professor McGonagall replied. "I merely thought it would help his reconciliation with Narcissa, if we treated him civilly. Perhaps I did treat him too well. I wanted to make sure that he felt comfortable having his family continue to stay at Hogwarts. I apologize if his presence made Miss Weasley or others uncomfortable."

"It wasn't his presence that irked me," I hastened to reply: "it was the fawning over him. We realized that he would visit Narcissa and Draco. We made no objection to his last visit, but that wasn't treated as a formal dinner for a visiting head of state. He is a convicted Death Eater. And if you weren't trying so hard to defend the Malfoys against their obvious misbehavior, you'd have realized how much danger Draco put all of us in, when he decided to sneak back into Slytherin. He was too drunk to worry about whether or not the ghost escaped."

"That's a very serious charge, Miss Weasley. I assume you have some sort of proof."

"Where else would he have gotten the brandy that he admits to drinking? We certainly aren't allowed any alcoholic beverages in Gryffindor, but the Slytherin Common Room had tons of brandy. I know. I drank some of it."

"You think you're so very clever, Miss Weasley. I understand your position, and I apologized," McGonagall frostily replied. "I know you believe that I have it in for you, but I don't. I know you're frustrated in your personal life, and would like to make that all my fault, but it is hardly my position to force Harry to snog with you. If he prefers to see you as a sister, that is no business of mine." She fairly sneered as she said this.

"That's, that's…" I stammered, before Hermione's father cut in.

"Perhaps it is time to speak. I know that Mrs. Weasley is constrained in what she can say in her daughter's defense, but as a father, let me just say that that was a horribly nasty and totally uncalled for thing to say. I am shocked that you would say such a thing."

"I think we're all overwrought and it is just causing us to snipe at each other," Professor Trelawney tried to soothe the tension, and then put her foot in it. "I think the Headmaster, er Professor McGonagall, is just disappointed that she is receiving so little support from all of you."

"I've always supported Professor McGonagall," Hermione replied. "So has Harry. Harry even let Narcissa hide at his house, at Professor McGonagall's request. We took Draco and Narcissa into Gryffindor at her request. Harry, George, and Ron have been sleeping with Draco. Now, Professor McGonagall turns on Harry and sides with the Slytherins, for no good reason.

"If there is a problem with the Ministry or with Harry, it is because Professor McGonagall has imagined every little thing as a sign of the Ministry trying to take over Hogwarts. It's clear to me that Harry and the Minister have never had any such intention. I've watched Harry do everything that Professor McGonagall asked him to do. He has gone out of his way to take care of the younger students and to be nice to the Slytherins. He's been comical in keeping to McGonagall's strictures about no public displays of affection. I will not accept any suggestion that we have not been supportive or have not kept our end of the bargain.

"The way that Harry was treated this morning was demeaning. He was asked to return to Hogwarts as an eighteen year old. He was asked to protect Draco. He did this and, when Draco turned on Harry and Ginny, they got no support from Professor McGonagall.

"Harry's the Deputy Minister of Magic and has been a very good and loyal supporter of Hogwarts. This morning's treatment of Bill Baggins, was also grossly unfair. He was only doing his job as an auror. He was nearly killed the last time that Lucius invaded Hogwarts, in case anyone has forgotten. A forbidden curse was fired at him. That in itself would normally require that Lucius spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. How do you all think Bill felt seeing Lucius feted here last night, and that is what last night's dinner and reception was. That was a deliberate stick in the eye to the Ministry. How do you expect them to react?

"The Ministry isn't our enemy and I refuse to act as if they are. The Malfoys were our enemies and perhaps still are. Ginny is correct that the staff may well see this differently than the students do, but I resent the suggestion that we should develop a statement of solidarity against the Ministry. And, I agree with Ginny that I will not feel safe or comfortable with the Slytherins in Gryffindor. I feel that the agreement for us to return to Hogwarts has been broken, possibly irretrievably. I also don't understand what Pansy is even doing at Hogwarts. She already graduated and clearly has no interest in following the rules."

**Original text**

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	78. Chapter 78

**Chapter Seventy-Eight Mom Pushes Us To Talk To McGonagall**

"I suggest that we adjourn until we hear from the Ministry," Neville suggested. "I feared that meeting so soon, with feelings so high, was not a good idea. I really don't know why I allowed this meeting to take place. Perhaps I'm having trouble thinking of myself as headmaster, even temporarily. I'm going to cancel the rest of today's classes. I want to remind you all that we all know a lot of new facts that we didn't know at this time yesterday. We'll know a lot more tomorrow. Please, let's not over-react and turn friends into enemies, if that hasn't already happened".

As we all left the Great Hall, Professor's McGonagall and Trelawney were standing alone, looking sad, abandoned, and lost. Mom went over and put her arm around Professor McGonagall and Hermione's parents joined the group. We students, including the new Headmaster, departed for Gryffindor and our own counsel.

There actually was very little sharing of counsel when we returned to the common room. We were mainly unhappy, but talked out. Beyond that, we were immediately confronted by the need to comfort and reassure the younger students, especially the young Slytherins. Neville slapped his forehead. "How could I be so stupid? I have to get around to the other Houses and personally reassure the students. I'll go to Hufflepuff and then Ravenclaw. If Hermione and Ron could stop by Ravenclaw and talk with the students until I can get there, that would be a help". With that, the three of them were off, leaving George, Luna, and me to help the Gryffindors, a third of whom had witnessed much of the fight and some of whom were still freaked out.

We explained that the fighting was over and they were all safe, that classes would resume tomorrow, that we would all have a normal dinner and that they should catch up on their studies. And, no, we would not be having Quidditch practice today. They seemed to slowly relax. They seemed especially intent on studying my face for signs of injury. I finally told them that I couldn't stand it any longer and needed to go look at myself in a mirror.

I didn't look too bad. It was still obvious that I had been punched in the eye, but my eye was fully open, with only a little swelling and darkening. The nose didn't look too bad, either. I tried making a fist with my hand and realized that Madam Pomphrey had restored full function. Luna lent me a little makeup for my eye and I returned to the students. They now wanted to know where Draco was and if he was coming back. I got the clear sense that Draco was viewed as the villain. I told them that Draco wasn't coming back and that he was in jail for now. The younger students became visibly more relaxed upon hearing that. They slowly drifted away from us to chat with their peers and even did a little homework.

Ron and Hermione returned, before I had heard anything from the Ministry. "We got the Ravenclaws settled down fairly easily," Hermione reported. "None of them actually saw the fight. Apart from the students who would normally be in Slytherin, they seemed remarkably unaffected. We told the proto-Slytherins that they were perfectly safe and that everyone wanted to be friendly to them. I still expect that some of their parents will want to take them home. Neville is with them now."

There was a knock on the door and Mom, who apparently was our new House Advisor, now that McGonagall was suspended and Neville was Headmaster, came to talk to us. "I've spent all this time talking with Professors McGonagall and Trelawney. They are still very upset. Professor McGonagall realizes she handled the events of the past twenty four hours very badly and is reaching the point where she can say that out loud. They are both considering leaving Hogwarts, which I think would be a very bad thing. They wanted to meet with Ginny and Hermione in their apartment. They had wanted to meet with Neville, also, but I don't see him."

"He's making the rounds of the other Houses to reassure the students," Hermione told her. "Should we meet with them now, or wait for Neville to return? I really don't know what to say and I don't want to be disloyal to Neville by meeting the former headmaster in his absence."

"I'd go now, if I were you," Mom prompted. "I don't think they expect you to side against Neville. Things are just falling apart and you may be able to prevent further damage. I wish I could speak to your father and get his advice, but I think you should see Professor McGonagall now. I suggest you listen to what they want to say, focus upon staying calm, and honestly, but kindly, answer their questions and share your views with them. Try to remember how much Professor McGonagall has helped both of you over the years and how important Hogwarts is to both of them. You'll do fine."

"I have a problem," I told Mom. "You heard what she said about Harry and me. I'm not in a forgiving mood. That was nasty. Only Professor Granger defended me. You didn't."

"I felt it best to say nothing. Perhaps I do defer too much to her authority. I just think that she generally means well but is on edge and a little socially inept. It was a nasty insult, but I couldn't change it. I'd just draw attention to it and turn a bad situation into a family brawl. I'm sorry if you feel I haven't been supportive of you today. I'm trying to hold your father's position together. It would be wholly appropriate if you demanded an apology for that insult at the start of your meeting with the Headmaster. I'm sorry that I scolded you for fighting with Draco. I do want you to stand up for yourself and he was being totally hateful. I'm also sorry that I didn't say something when you had your confrontation with Lucius Malfoy last night. I assume that you are well able to take care of yourself, in most circumstances. I guess I try too hard to be the good Minister's wife and good new professor. I heard about your fight with Harry. I can understand Harry and you. I miss your father as much as you miss Harry. Like Harry, I try too hard to keep everything smoothed over. It really is difficult for Harry to work for your father, while being your boyfriend. You are still Arthur's little girl. I see you more than he does, so I realize how mature you are. Part of that maturity should be understanding the difficulties Harry has with your father. Now – please go visit Minerva. She really is very upset."

Having previously visited the apartment, it took us only a few minutes until Hermione was knocking on the door. Professor Trelawney greeted us at the door and led us over to Professor McGonagall, who was seated in one of five chairs set up in front of the fireplace. The chairs were not broken up by a table and we sat Hermione-Trelawney-me-McGonagall. The extra chair stood at one side - Hermione and I were trying not to seem rude. The curtains were pulled back and the room was bathed in afternoon sunlight, giving it a far different appearance than for our prior visits, and making the room seem far cheerier than its occupants.

"I realize it was wrong to ask you to take a position that seemed to oppose Harry and Mr. Weasley, especially in the absence of any evidence that the Ministry position is incorrect," Professor McGonagall began. "I know that I may have appeared a bit hostile to Ginny, but I do want to sincerely apologize for what I'm sure was the considerable unease you felt attending what seemed to be a reception in honor of the man who nearly caused your death as a first year. I should have thought of that and never allowed it to happen. I also should have remembered how he treated Hermione. I am truly disappointed in myself that Trew had to remind me of the gravity of that."

"I felt as much unease when you were proclaiming to the faculty that you couldn't force Harry to snog me. That was cruel. I'm not at all happy with you."

"Yes, I should have apologized for that, as well. I don't understand what came over me. It was certainly a wholly inappropriate comment. Somehow, I was angry and it just escaped my mouth. I won't deny that at some level I intended it to be hurtful to you. That is not how a professor should ever behave. I truly am sorry that I said that, although I know that I can't take it back or remove the future awkwardness that it must cause."

"Okay," I replied evenly. "I accept your apology."

"That's generous of you. This is very awkward for me. Let me say at the start that I have the utmost respect for the Minister and Deputy Minister and that when I think about things calmly and clearly, I realize that neither of them wishes to take over Hogwarts. I know that the three of us, and Kingsley as well, are on the same side, despite whatever little squabbles we may have. I also realize that the Malfoys were on the other side in the past war, even though they dropped out at the end. Please believe that I don't want to hurt the Ministry or to make Arthur's or Harry's jobs any harder than they already are. I also realize that the loyalty of each of you will always be greater to Harry than to me, and I think that is a natural and a good thing. It's also good that Ginny is very loyal to her father. Arthur is a very good man. It was very wrong of me to cause you to think that I was recruiting you to take a stand against Arthur. Even if you had full information, that would be very presumptuous of me. My only excuse is that I was overly emotional at the time and not thinking clearly. That is not a good thing for a Headmaster. Which brings me to the question at hand: Trew and I are considering leaving Hogwarts and letting Neville take charge. I know that I am again being presumptuous, but I'd like your opinion on that."

"As you have often said to us," I replied, "that would be a mistake. When I met with Neville earlier today, I told him that I planned to convince Harry that we should leave Hogwarts together. Neville told me that this would be a mistake, and correctly guessed that one big reason that I was willing to leave was that I realized how much future embarrassment I had caused for both Harry and me by blurting out that he thought of me as a sister. Neville argued that making a major decision like that to avoid some temporary embarrassment and awkwardness was unwise.

"I think if the two of you left Hogwarts, that you would be leaving just to avoid temporary awkwardness. I don't think anybody who spoke against your proposal this afternoon wants you to leave. Hogwarts has been both of your lives and I know how badly you would both miss it. I think we are all hoping this situation is resolved in a way that you will stay. I am not as sure that I want you as my Headmaster – I don't think you've treated me at all fairly. It is not my place at all to influence who will be headmaster. I'm not sure that I can stay, if it is you. I'd much prefer Neville. He understands the students and I trust his fairness. I know that isn't fair to Neville and that Neville is really hoping that won't happen. He'll be along, by the way, as soon as he finishes visiting with the Ravenclaw students."

"I don't want you to leave Hogwarts. It is important that you graduate. If you leave, your whole circle will leave. That will not be at all good for the school. The situation was precarious before the fight. Parents will hear of a fight involving a Wizard older than a seventh year, who was a former Death Eater, not to mention the presence of Lucius. If you leave, a lot of other students will leave. Won't you stay? Please."

"I really don't feel comfortable at Hogwarts. Part of it is how awful last year was and how badly students who opposed Voldemort were persecuted. We weren't treated well the prior years, either. But my feelings are also about this year. I do strongly object to the way I've been treated and the preference shown to Draco and Pansy. I won't stay at Hogwarts under these conditions. I am absolutely serious about not wanting either one of them sleeping with us in Gryffindor. I still totally believe that Harry was blameless in the fight, although I should have walked away and made a complaint to you rather than punching Draco. I admit that I do not strongly regret punching him, even after all the grief that has followed that punch."

"That's another thing that I reproach myself for. My first thought after the fight was broken up and the injured were being attended to should have been to reassure the students who had seen or heard about the fight. I'm glad Neville is doing that. I do realize that Harry was not at fault and that I over-reacted."

"I definitely want both of you to remain at Hogwarts, but am not at all sure that I can." Hermione supported me. "I know Neville doesn't feel prepared to be Headmaster. I won't push for him to stay in the position. He is too young and he'll make mistakes which might scar his career. Like Ginny, I need to see changes if I am to remain at Hogwarts. I'm finished with Draco and Pansy. I'm also tired of being treated as a kid. I've been treated well, but I can't help but notice how Ginny has been treated or how Harry was treated this morning. I don't think I can easily forget that.."

"Thank you for being honest," Professor McGonagall replied. "I'm glad Neville is in temporary charge, he is best equipped to intercede among the various factions. He'll make an excellent future headmaster. What he said this afternoon was all very sensible. I was too distraught to hear what he said as clearly as I should have. I know he is not seeking the Headmaster job today. I'm going to speak to Harry when he returns. Hermione is correct that Harry has been as cooperative as I could possibly ask him to be. In retrospect, I did put his life in some danger, bunking Draco with him. That was a mistake and one that won't be repeated. I have no right to jeopardize the safety of a student, even an eighteen year old, to further my personal social experiment. Harry is a gem and I should have given him my support this morning. He has certainly earned it. I forget how much he has matured in the last year. I'm also going to have to talk to Arthur and Kingsley, although I certainly don't look forward to those meetings. I do owe Bill and Kingsley an apology for my meddling with the aurors. I think having the Deputy Minister at Hogwarts has unnerved me a little. Have you heard anything from the Ministry, by the way?"

I shook my head 'no'. There was a knock on the door and Professor Trelawney went to let Neville into the apartment.

"I think all the students are settled," Neville reported. "The Gryffindors and the transplanted Slytherins took it the hardest. Many of the Gryffindors witnessed the fight and were frightened that Draco would return to Gryffindor. I may have been presumptuous, but I assured them that would never happen."

"I agree with you," Professor McGonagall responded. "My Malfoy experiment seems to be at an end and, even if it continued, Draco would have to find new lodgings. I'll be presumptuous, Neville, and ask you the same question that I asked these young Witches. Do you think Trew and I should remain at Hogwarts?"

"I do," Neville responded, "and I hope that you will once again be Headmaster by the end of this week. I also hope that you will not hold anything that I say or do in your stead against me."

"Of course not. I think you've handled things admirably, thus far. I hope that you will help me to persuade your friends to remain at Hogwarts. They don't think that they can stay with me as headmaster. Perhaps Professor Stout or Professor Flitwick would be a suitable compromise."

"I honestly don't know what to say to them. You also should know that I understand and am very sympathetic to Harry's, Ginny's, Hermione's, and Ron's views. We defeated Voldemort together. We all suffered a lot over the past years and lost many close friends. It is easier for me to come back to Hogwarts and be treated as an honored professor, than it is for them to come back and be treated like children. I feel very guilty because of that difference."

"Umm, " McGonagall started to reply, before Trew intervened.

"I wonder, if I could ask a very personal question. My consideration of departing is not entirely driven by my affection for Professor McGonagall or by her current difficulties. I fear that my time has passed. I notice both Ginny and Hermione are studying Divination with Professor Firenze and that he is a far more popular professor than I am. I understand that he is naturally very popular with the younger girls who don't have boyfriends yet, but it's also true of older students, like yourselves, who have paired off."

"Well," Hermione began, "the easy answer as far as Ginny, Cissy, and all of the eighteen year olds is concerned is that the Goblin King asked us to take Divination from Professor Firenze, because we need his insight on celestial prophesy and to better understand Centaur thinking as future Keepers and assistants. That said, if the King had not given us that advice, I don't think any of us would have elected Divination. We don't believe in palm reading, or tea stains, or animal entrails, or glass balls, or any of that. I'm not sure any of us yet have any level of belief in the usefulness of celestial prophesy, either, but Firenze also teaches us mathematics and astronomy and the interrelationship of the magical creatures that a Keeper deals with. He provides a view into a very different world. As far as the wisdom of your staying at Hogwarts, I think that is up to you. You teach a required course and I believe that you teach it as well or better than anyone who might be hired to replace you. Professor Firenze couldn't teach the required material without snorting in derision. I personally don't think Divination should be a required course, and think it has very little value, but that is just my opinion. I don't know whether that helps or not."

"It helps a bit," she replied.

"I'd offer you sherry," Professor McGonagall interjected "but I don't feel any of us ought to be drinking any sherry on a day like today. I'm very worried that Ginny still hasn't heard anything from the Ministry. Do you really think that Draco entered Slytherin? That would be an exceedingly foolish thing to do, knowing that Voldemort's ghost is locked within and has vowed to destroy him."

"Where else would he get the brandy? We certainly don't have any and, from his mother's reaction to finding him drunk, you can bet that she didn't give it to him either. He couldn't have traveled to Hogsmeade and back."

As if by magic, McGonagall's prior comment about not hearing from the Ministry caused my cell phone to ring. I was mildly disappointed to find Percy on the other end. "Harry will call you as soon as he can. I know I'm not the one you wanted to talk to, but I'm the most expendable. Here's what I'm allowed to tell you.

"First, as far as your little problem, we've discovered that Lucius was Imperiused. He's at St. Mungo's now and being treated by Dr. White. We're keeping Dr. Sprout away from him as a precaution. We don't know yet who Imperiused him, but medically speaking, it is a very serious matter to Imperious someone to behave in a manner at odds with an Unbreakable Vow that they've already taken. He could die. Draco was acting of his own volition and stupidity. I'm not at all sure what we're going to do with him. It seems clear that he wasn't part of some assassination plot, but it is equally clear that he cannot be trusted.

"As far as our problems here, the problem is actually on the Continent, at least for the time being. Ruppasta Minta has revolted against the Goblin King. He has lost control of the Durmstrang Crystal Cavern. King Goblanze arrived with British Goblins and most of the Continental Goblins supported him. I don't think any Goblins have been killed, as of now, but Ruppasta's supporters damaged the Crystal Circle before they fled. There was very little fighting, with just a few Goblins injured on each side. Ruppasta is now holed up in the Paris catacombs, with about four hundred supporters. They have also sabotaged the Paris Circle and caused the magical abilities of Wizards throughout France to be greatly diminished, especially in areas farthest from Britain. They almost destroyed the Durmstrang Circle, but were stopped, before doing more than hacking away some of the silver wiring. Viktor says it will be fixed within a few days, but until then, there is no magic in Germany and Viktor's people have armed themselves with swords and spears. Fortunately Durmstrang still teaches that style of combat. Viktor also said he is well stocked with gasoline.

"We don't know how badly damaged the Paris Circle is, but Ruppasta's Goblins still control that cavern and have had time to do as much damage as they choose.

"We've been on guard against an attack here at Gringotts and at the Hogwarts Circle. If you want to talk to Harry, he'll be at the Reception Hall outside the Sacred Cavern in probably an hour or two. He's still meeting with the Goblin King. Harry wants you to grab all of the crystal tuning tools that Dumbledore left to us and to review the training vials on how to use them. I'm afraid that they might be needed. Meantime, prepare for the loss of magical protections at Hogwarts. That's what we've been doing at Gringotts and Diagon Alley. So far, there has been no significant revolt among the British Goblins, although the King has detained several malcontents. I have to go."

I relayed that conversation to the rest of the group. Professor McGonagall commented, "I'm so very sorry that I caused so much trouble for Harry and Arthur on a day like this. We should plan what we will do if we lose our magical barriers. I have to pay a quick visit to Narcissa."

"Before we go," Hermione said, "do you know why I don't feel overly bad for Narcissa or you being upset by today's actions?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll tell me."

"Because neither of you have been straight with us, while we've kept our end of the bargain. Narcissa still hasn't told us the truth of what she's trying to get hold of to protect Draco. Just like you've never told us why you pretended not to recognize that the key that Umbridge brought with her the day Ginny killed her was a Hogwarts key. You should have recognized it immediately. Then there is the issue that there is a lot more of a link between you and Narcissa than either of you has ever been willing to tell us. That one's the biggie. We also know that the out-of-place portrait in the Hogwarts Museum, which you told us must be Headmistress Ravenclaw is actually a self-portrait of your acolyte Professor Celine. We all stayed at Hogwarts based on your pledge to Harry that you would keep nothing from him. When the two of you decide to be straight with us, I'll be more concerned about Narcissa's current difficulties. You can tell her that. I don't want a response right now, that's just something for you to think about, if you expect us to remain at Hogwarts and help you."

I was at least a little surprised at Hermione's boldness as I stood staring at McGonagall, before following Hermione and Neville out of the apartment. "I'm going to see Mom before reviewing the memories," I told Hermione.

"That's fine, we'll wait for you."

I saw Mom as soon as we entered the Gryffindor common room. Before I ran over to her, I nudged Hermione. "You should find Cissy, and we need to decide what if anything we should tell Gabrielle."

By the time I had relayed Percy's information to Mom and we had exchanged hugs, I saw that Hermione had collected Cissy and Neville was speaking to Gabrielle. I asked Mom to please deal with Gabrielle while the rest of us went off to the Headmaster's office. She didn't remember to ask me how our meeting with McGonagall had gone, although perhaps she read her answer on our faces. Her lapse was a relief; after the last exchange between Hermione and McGonagall, I wasn't sure how I would have answered her.

It took nearly the remainder of the two hours Percy had given us to gather up Dumbledore's tools and review the instructions for their use, so that Harry was already in the Reception Hall by the time Hermione, Ron, Cissy, and I arrived. Harry had a half dozen aurors with him and there were also several Goblins and Bane in the Hall. I ran to give Harry a big hug.

{{[relief] It is so good to see you again. I was really worried. After our fight last night and my blurting out the sister question and then the fight with Draco and McGonagall threatening to expel you, and then fear about what the Goblin revolt means, this was a horrible day not to be able to even talk to you. You don't know how really sorry I am to have dumped that 'sister' comment on you when you have such a big Ministry crisis on your hands. And now you and I, really all of us, are fighting McGonagall. Everything is so unsettled and emotional, and I realize I'm not helping things for you. Just how bad is the situation?}}

{[really adrenaline hyper] I'm very glad to see you too. Relax, I'm not upset at you and I don't need an apology. I admit I haven't given you enough individual attention the past week or so. That's my fault, not yours. As for the Ministry crisis, we don't know for sure how bad things are on the Continent. I think pretty bad for the Goblins but unsure how it will impact the Wizards. Other than Minta wanting to be in charge, we're not even sure what the issues are. Not much has happened in Britain and maybe nothing will happen. This is all a precaution. As part of that, your father is meeting with the Muggle Prime Minister, just in case Diagon Alley suddenly pops up in the middle of London. How are things at Hogwarts?}

{{The students are pretty well settled down. Most of the staff is waiting to hear from you and Dad. McGonagall and Trelawney tried to push for a solidarity statement against the Ministry and got no support. We just met with them. They were considering leaving Hogwarts, but we told them they should stay. I don't think I can stay at Hogwarts if McGonagall becomes Headmaster again.}}

{Whether I'm expelled or not, I'm perfectly happy to leave Hogwarts to Professor McGonagall. I think I'll be leaving. Professor McGonagall was really angry and out of control when she got to the Ministry. Director Shacklebolt was in my office to meet me and to explain the Goblin situation as soon as I arrived. McGonagall just lit right into him, accusing him and the aurors of interfering in her management of Hogwarts and accusing me of brawling with Draco. She was about to elaborate when Shacklebolt cut her off and said he didn't have time for her petty academic tiffs while we were involved in an international crisis. That should have been her signal to shut up, but she kept going and demanded to see the Minister and to be allowed to take me back to Hogwarts with her to investigate the incident. Shacklebolt was taking me to your Dad, anyway, and she sort of tagged along, starting to complain loudly as soon as she saw Arthur. I don't think your father understood any more of what she said than 'Draco kicked Ginny in the head… have to determine how responsible Harry is for punching him'. Arthur did not take that at all well and was very angry at McGonagall for allowing Draco the opportunity to kick you in the head on her watch. Your father told her that she was out of control and needed to settle down, that he would talk to her when he had the time and she was more rational. She said if that was how he felt he was welcome to her resignation. He said that was fine with him and that she should return to Hogwarts and tell Neville that he was Headmaster. Two aurors had to guide her away from us. She was distraught enough on arrival that Shacklebolt had confiscated her wand, which also got her excited. I don't know if the three of them will be able to patch things up. I think your father was angrier than Shacklebolt. He also gave Bill a really hard time about not defending us. Shacklebolt had to intervene, even though he wasn't very happy with Bill and Barb. Your Dad was McGonagall's strongest supporter at the Ministry, but that has really changed.}

Harry explained the situation to the others, saying we were basically here to help the King's Goblins guard against an attack by Minta's rebels. Harry told us it was far more likely that Ruppasta Minta would need time to consolidate his position in France before undertaking any more adventures and that his next move would probably be against the Durmstrang Circle, but that we were preparing in case he decided to surprise us with a quick strike into Britain. Harry said we were also waiting to meet with the Goblin King. He told us that there were forty Goblins guarding the Sacred Cavern and that the King felt things would be calmer and his troops more loyal if we didn't go in. That didn't sound like much solidarity to me, but I just sat down to wait. The others seemed to be drawn toward my seat and Bane joined us.

"They'd expect us to defend the Circles," I told Bane. "Their ally in the Wizard world was Bruce. I'd expect them to try to free Bruce, before they attacked here. The current problems have spread the aurors thinly. If they've managed to figure out where the Montaignes are being held, they probably view now, or in a few days when we have to lower our guard a bit due to fatigue, as the ideal time to attack."

The King and Shacklebolt arrived right after I had suggested this, and Bane liked my idea so much that he repeated it. Shacklebolt said he would go back to the Ministry to increase both the number of aurors guarding the Montaignes and the magical barriers around their dwelling. "The main thing that King Goblanze and I have concluded is that it doesn't make much sense for you to stay here guarding the Reception Hall tonight. If Ruppasta attacks, he will try to apparate directly into the Sacred Cavern. Ruppasta's rallying cry appears to be that King Goblanze is too close to our administration and hasn't adequately defended Goblin rights. Because of that, the presence of Wizards in the Sacred Cavern, or even in the Reception Hall, likely does more harm than good. Ruppasta claims that Bruce and his father are the true Keepers and that had Bruce been elected Minister, he would have made sweeping concessions to a new King Minta. Did I correctly state your position King Goblanze?"

"Yes. I came myself to assure you that I value your help and trust your motives, but that internal Goblin politics and the nature of my opposition makes your presence here a threat to maintaining the support of my Goblins. Ruppasta is saying that I maintained my illegal hold on the throne by Wizard trickery. So, thank you for coming to support my side, but you can serve us all to better effect elsewhere. I hope I haven't offended you."

"Not at all," Harry replied. "You understand your own politics better than we can. Our government won't gain any political points by guarding this Hall."

"I'll just duck back to the Ministry and then join you at Hogwarts within the hour," Shacklebolt told us. "We have matters concerning the administration of Hogwarts to discuss, as well as what to do about Draco and Narcissa Malfoy. We'll meet in Neville's office. I don't mind if McGonagall is present, but I'd prefer not to include the entire staff. It would be impolitic to exclude Mrs. Weasley, as she will report back to Arthur. I'll see you soon."

Shacklebolt and most of his aurors apparated away. I noticed that in addition to Bill and Barb, Shacklebolt had left a third auror with Harry. As we arrived at the pocket inside the gate, I was a little taken aback when Harry commented, "we really need to establish our own way to apparate back to Hogwarts that doesn't depend on this pocket, which is controlled by Professor McGonagall, or the goodwill of the staff to come and unlock the gate. I'll ask Neville for a gate key and we'll think about how to create our own pocket inside the wall, one which only we know about."

{{[shock] I admit that I lack full confidence in McGonagall, but I'm really surprised to hear you express safety concerns.}}

{[perplexed] I'm not trusting anyone out of blind faith. She acted very strangely this morning. Shacklebolt is correct that I should be very concerned that she tried to separate me from my aurors. I don't distrust her. I simply think it wise to have a contingency plan.}

We all assembled in Neville's office. Harry brought everyone up to date on recent events and then we settled back to wait for Shacklebolt. Harry showed no inclination to begin without him and neither did Neville. Harry and McGonagall seemed determined to save whatever they had to say to each other until Shacklebolt was present. They were sitting about as far apart as was possible, with Neville in the Headmaster's chair. Neville seemed willing to surrender the chair, but Harry seemed content to sit in the guest chair, which he had hauled into a corner far from McGonagall.

In a way, it was strange that we were here to discuss Hogwarts and the only faculty present were Neville, Mom, and Professor McGonagall, while half a dozen students were present. In another way, it reflected how much our circle had supplanted the remnants of the Order. With Professor McGonagall leading the Order from Hogwarts, while Shacklebolt and Dad were centered at the Ministry, a schism within the Order was probably inevitable. The absence of other faculty, and especially Professor Trelawney, said that while Hogwarts was the immediate topic of conversation, Shacklebolt wanted it clear from the start that this was a matter of security and that he and Harry, rather than McGonagall or Neville, were in charge.

When Professor McGonagall suggested, "I wonder if it might not be possible to expand the attendance for this meeting", I was expecting a request to include Professor Trelawney, but instead, McGonagall continued "since we will be discussing the future of Draco and Narcissa, I was hoping that Narcissa could be included."

"I don't think that would be appropriate," Harry replied. "Her loyalty is questionable and this is partially a strategy session. I'm not willing to let Narcissa in on any of our secrets. In any case, we know what she will say."

"With due respect, I don't think you know what she will say," Professor McGonagall responded. "I've spent much of the past three hours talking to Narcissa and convincing her that everyone would be better served if certain secrets were shared. You should hear her out."

"I have no objection to that," Harry replied, taking his usual approach to diplomacy of ignoring form in favor of substance. "If you believe that Narcissa has something important to tell us, she can come in and discuss that specific thing, after Shacklebolt has said whatever he chooses to say up front. She can't stay for the rest of the meeting. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, it is. I'll go fetch her and ask her to wait in the Entry Hall, until you're ready for her."

As Professor McGonagall left to fetch Narcissa, I couldn't help thinking that she normally would have simply sent out a Patronus, but wanted to avoid the rest of the awkward wait until Shacklebolt arrived. It turned out that I was correct in my surmise that we would not see her again until we saw Shacklebolt. We waited another half hour before Shacklebolt walked in the door, with Professor McGonagall right behind him. The expressions on their faces indicated that they had exchanged words, so it was possible that McGonagall had merely wanted to corner Shacklebolt for some private words, before the meeting began.

**Original text**

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	79. Chapter 79

**Chapter Seventy-Nine – Shacklebolt Takes Charge**

Shacklebolt immediately assumed control of the meeting. "Thank you all for your presence and for accepting my restrictions on the attendance at this meeting. We have some important matters to discuss."

As I must have given a quizzical look to Harry, while wondering why he was so passive, Harry sent me a whisper message.

{Shacklebolt is Director of the Auror Corps. The Deputy Minister has almost no actual power or authority.}

"I understand that the Hogwarts administration has an intense interest in the action report that my aurors filed regarding this morning's incident. Here is your copy, Neville, and one for Harry, and I even brought a courtesy copy for you, Professor McGonagall. Here's one for you, Mrs. Weasley, so that you can keep the Minister informed - he doesn't always have time to read my reports. I'll give you all a little time to read it." I thought I detected a wink in Harry's direction as Shacklebolt said that. Professor McGonagall looked uncomfortable and made a bit of a display of carefully reading the report.

The report was three pages long and I whisper-read it along with Harry. The auror's report was basically what we already knew, with a comment from Bill that he couldn't be sure of what he thought he heard so he wouldn't put it in writing, "but that something that Lucius told his son about a secret conspiracy between Mrs. Malfoy and Headmaster McGonagall put Draco into a rage, from which I thought I had calmed him before he left the common room. I took his wand."

There was a one-page summary disposition of the investigation signed by Madam Bones and Director Shacklebolt. The key phrases that jumped out at me were, "The Department of Magical Law Enforcement finds that Deputy Minister Potter was totally blameless in the incident, acting only to prevent grievous bodily harm to the Minister's daughter at the hands and feet of an admitted Death Eater….Draco Malfoy deliberately instigated a fight, despite being appropriately cautioned by an auror, thinking he was acting at his father's behest, while his father was actually acting under the constraints of an Imperius curse applied by persons unknown…Draco does not appear to have been involved in a plot against the Deputy Minister but his actions are nevertheless unconscionable… the Department of Magical Law Enforcement elects not to revoke his probation but is considering prosecution for assault… the Department finds that the Headmaster of Hogwarts improperly tried to prevent the Deputy Minister from carrying out urgent Ministry business and unduly interfered with aurors' conduct of their lawful responsibilities, thereby endangering the safety of the Deputy Minister… the Minster's decision to suspend the Headmaster from her duties, pending a hearing is judged to be fully appropriate… witnesses agree that Headmaster McGonagall was out of control when she confronted Director Shacklebolt and the Minister… aurors should have stepped in sooner to protect the Deputy Minister. The Director of the Auror Corps is directed to investigate this lapse and to take corrective action… It is crucial that the aurors determine who Imperiused Lucius Malfoy."

"That seems fair and in accord with what we've determined ourselves," Neville stated. Shacklebolt beamed approval at him, largely because he was not McGonagall.

"Does anyone else have any questions or comments? I understand from Bill Baggins that former Headmaster McGonagall expressed a desire to file a report criticizing his conduct. I'll gladly accept the complaint if she wishes to make one, although I highly recommend against it."

Professor McGonagall looked like she was about to speak, but restrained herself.

"Fine then," Director Shacklebolt continued "Madam Bones will be along shortly. I'll list what I think we need to discuss. This is all preliminary discussion, not a formal hearing. Anyone may demand a decision from the Wizengamot, but Madam Bones and I thought it more efficient to try to resolve these matters without their intervention. Now let's see, we have to decide whether to reinstate the Headmaster or dismiss her, what to do with Narcissa and Draco, how the Hogwarts administration will interact with the Deputy Minister and his aurors and, I guess generally, how the Hogwarts administration will interact with the Ministry. I must inform you that everyone in this administration takes these matters most seriously and that my presence here has the full support of the Minister. The former Headmaster has lodged a complaint regarding Ministry interference at Hogwarts, but I believe the problem is the other way around. Professor McGonagall has told me that Narcissa Malfoy would like to speak to us. She'll be escorted in by Madam Bones. Young Singleton here will keep a transcript of the informal hearing. Any of you may request a copy if you wish to file a complaint or proceed to a hearing before the Wizengamot.

"Ah, I see Amelia has arrived. I've completed all of the formalities. Perhaps we should move on to allowing Mrs. Malfoy to say whatever she has come here to say."

"Perhaps I should begin and let Narcissa fill in," McGonagall began. "This afternoon, Hermione suggested to me that Harry and his associates were unable to give me the benefit of the doubt concerning my actions this morning, or to feel much sympathy for Narcissa's plight, because they knew that we were withholding secrets and not being honest with them, especially regarding a secret bond between us, which was coloring my actions.

"She unfortunately was correct. Narcissa and I believe we must tell the truth, to clear the air. I met Narcissa when I was a young Hogwarts Professor and Narcissa was a student. At the start of her seventh year, we developed what I exasperate Harry and his friends by calling a 'special friendship'. Although she was legally an adult, I was still her teacher and this was highly inappropriate. Our friendship was secret until Christmas break, when her father discovered an unfortunate note from me, which Narcissa had carried home, stuck between the pages of her Advanced Transfiguration text. The situation was instantly clear to Narcissa's father and he was prepared to start a terrible row. My teaching career would have been ended and Narcissa would have been disgraced. Narcissa accepted her father's proposed resolution, largely to spare me from certain dismissal. Narcissa was the stronger of us and was more than willing to fight it out with her family. In the end, Narcissa agreed not to speak to me during the rest of her seventh year and later married Lucius Malfoy, at her father's insistance.

"Lucius also entered into the marriage against his personal wishes, because his father had some leverage over him that neither Narcissa nor I ever understood. So, it was not an auspicious start to her marriage, but when Draco was born, Narcissa was delighted and lived for her son. I have never again had an improper relationship with a student. It was as a result of my experience with Narcissa, that I transformed my school persona into what Hermione calls 'the last Victorian'. I am very happy with Trew, but have always felt a closeness, warm affection, and deep sense of guilt and obligation towards Narcissa. I know she could have led a far happier life and married someone more to her liking, had I not erred as her Professor. That is a terrible debt, which I have been determined to do my best to repay.

"Narcissa and I discretely kept in touch over the years. It was clear to me that she did not share her sister's affection for Voldemort, and was present in those circles only at her husband's insistence. When Draco was sent to Hogwarts, Narcissa made me promise to watch out for him. I recruited Dumbledore to assist me in this effort, and Dumbledore asked Snape to keep a special eye on Draco. I think Dumbledore knew my secret, but by that time I was safely allied with Trew and no threat to the students. Dumbledore considered other matters more important and both kept my secret and protected Draco. After the Battle of Hogwarts, Narcissa asked me to provide refuge for herself and Draco and to ensure Draco's safety. I accepted that as a sacred obligation. I owed Narcissa so much. I recruited Harry and his friends to help me look after Draco. They were unwilling at first, but sincerely helped and made Draco and then Pansy feel safe and welcome at Hogwarts and even in Gryffindor.

"Narcissa blessed Draco's and Pansy's relationship, not wanting to see her son condemned to the sort of arranged marriage that she had endured. She was determined to shield both Draco and Pansy from Lucius and his agents. She knew that Lucius had employed spies to watch Draco while he was at Hogwarts. It is only recently that she learned that Pansy, briefly, was one of those spies.

"In any event, the reason that I believed so strongly that we could use the rehabilitation of the Malfoys as a way of accelerating reconciliation of the Great Families with the rest of us was that I understood Narcissa very well, knowing she had no Death Eater sentiments. I also felt that I had gotten to know Draco very well, and agreed with Dumbledore that he was a boy who could be saved. I thought, I continue to think, that by helping Narcissa and Draco I was furthering the overall goals of the Minister."

"Did the Minister ever express his approval or disapproval of your actions?" Madam Bones asked.

"He let it be known that he and Director Shacklebolt had doubts, but he never ordered me to stop."

"Might that be because the deed was already done and he was trying to avoid interfering with your management of Hogwarts? By the way, is it not true that you prevailed upon Harry Potter to harbor a fugitive, within an hour of his killing Voldemort, at a time when you might reasonably assume that he had not fully recovered his mental equilibrium?"

"Both of your conclusions are not unreasonable. If I may continue, Narcissa convinced me that for all his faults, Lucius was essentially honorable and redeemable. So, the Malfoys and Harry were the center of my plans to improve the Wizard community. All of that is a large part of the reason why I reacted so badly when I saw Harry pummeling Draco. My first thought was not that Draco had betrayed our trust, but that Harry had broken his pledge to me to protect Draco and that by trusting Harry, I had betrayed Narcissa. I reacted out of fear that Draco and his father might be imprisoned as a result of the fight and that this would destroy Narcissa.

"Hermione also wondered why I pretended not to recognize that Dolores Umbridge had carried a Hogwarts master key, on the day she visited Hogwarts. When I saw that key, I was sure she planned to gain entrance to Slytherin to attack Draco and Pansy. I wanted to handle the matter without upsetting Narcissa. If Draco learned of the key's significance, he would not have stayed at Hogwarts. Do you have anything to add, Narcissa?"

"I apologize for the secrecy and deceit involving Draco's wand. Yes, I wanted other wands as well – Voldemort's, Bellatrix's, Harry's, and the Elder Wand. I knew that Thicknesse assigned almost a mythical power to these wands and believed that if he possessed them all, that we would have our own equivalent of the Peverell Hallows and be invincible. That was my educated guess, and the card I intended to play to secure immunity for my family. As soon as I heard of Death Eater involvement in the theft of the Joan d'Arc artifacts, I knew that my surmise was correct. That was the final piece of Thicknesse's Hallows.

"I also had a problem in that I was carrying a temporary wand from my dark days after separating from Minerva. It was a unique rowan wand. It was lost during the Hogwarts battle. Minerva got word to me through Kreacher that this wand had been turned in to Mr. Filch. That wand posed no danger to anyone, but could mean great embarrassment to me. I did not want to relive or have to explain that period in my life. It would raise questions of my association with Professor McGonagall, as well as my own mental stability. I wasn't strong enough to face that additional embarrassment and Minerva took mercy upon me.

"I knew that Lucius would try to kidnap Draco from Hogwarts, so I was waiting. My spy told me that our estate manager was in Hogsmeade. When Pansy apparated out and our manager apparated in, I followed on his heels and took my wand and the Bellatrix wand, among all the others, from Mr. Filch. I didn't mean to hurt him and I didn't use any serious curse on him, he just fell and hit his head. I took the wands and left. I had the Bellatrix wand with me in my apartment at Hogwarts. Lucius stole it from me last night. I've had it all along. I haven't done anything that could harm your interests. Thicknesse's interest in his Hallows is nothing but superstition. I think you know the rest."

"We don't know the identity of your spy who aided in your invasion of Hogwarts," Madam Bones declared.

"And you don't need to. That person was merely a friend helping me to protect my son."

"I think that person was Professor McGonagall," Director Shacklebolt declared. "She and Professor Slughorn knew exactly when the Hogwarts defenses would be lowered and raised. Slughorn had to be at Hogwarts making those changes, but McGonagall could have been anywhere. Neither the Malfoy estate manager, nor Pansy, nor Millicent Bulstrode spotted another spy hanging around who could have spotted Pansy and reported back. McGonagall could have relayed the exact timing on lowering of the Hogwarts defenses well before Pansy ever left Hogwarts."

"Yes, it was me," Professor McGonagall admitted.

"Your story of attacking Mr. Filch doesn't square with his description of his attacker: a large burly man," Harry challenged Narcissa. "And you just said 'we', 'we would have our own hallows', that sounds like you're still on Thicknesse's side."

"I used Polyjuice potion during the attack. I don't know why I said 'we', it was probably just a mis-speak".

"You and Kreacher both assured me that you had never left my house, and I don't believe you had access to Polyjuice."

"That was very devious and very wrong of me and I certainly understand why you would feel that I'm not to be trusted. I was desperate to keep Draco from Lucius. Kreacher obtained the Polyjuice for me."

"I think I'm going to follow your son's advice and stop being such a sap. I paid Kreacher's pension for this year, but from now on, you're responsible for his pension. I understand that he wasn't really my Elf when I freed him and agreed to the pension," Harry told Narcissa.

"Don't be too hard on Kreacher. I am a very old friend and I convinced him that my life and my son's life were at stake and that his actions could not possibly harm you. I told him you'd be in danger if he told you the truth. I truly am sorry that I betrayed your trust and the huge favor that you did for me. I'm not a fool. I know that all of this makes the Black house unsafe for you. Kreacher and I now know how to bypass the Order's charms. Perhaps Hermione can replace them for you."

"Nice."

"Thank you, Mrs. Malfoy, you may go," Madam Bones instructed. "I think your recorder can make this portion of the minutes private to the Minister and myself, don't you agree, Director Shacklebolt?"

"I think no copies at all, and Mrs. Weasley can inform her husband."

"How did Draco happen to find Narcissa's wand?" Ron asked.

"Because I hid it and more or less guided him where to find it," Professor McGonagall admitted. "Just as I helped get Draco's wand to Narcissa and almost did the same with Voldemort's. I had made arrangements that Margaret and the other first and second year Gryffindor girls would not be searched as they boarded the train. I thought she would carry the Voldemort wand onto the train. I knew the wands had no real value, but would be a powerful bargaining chip for Narcissa. I'm sorry that I took advantage of Harry by allowing Narcissa to engage in these activities after persuading him to hide her at his house. I didn't think these actions would harm anyone and thought they might save Draco's life."

"Margaret was assaulted on the train, because of your actions," Hermione declared.

"Yes, I was very sorry about that and couldn't have forgiven myself, if she had been seriously injured. Obviously, that wasn't supposed to happen. I lost control of events."

"Still, you exposed her to an attack by the same Death Eater wives who invaded Diagon Alley, just to assist the private strategy between you and Narcissa."

"I admitted that I knew it was wrong. Perhaps more wrong than I initially realized. I certainly did not intend to put her at any risk."

"Woman, the line between your form of adventuring and out-and-out treason is very thin," Director Shacklebolt warned her. "You deliberately convinced one of your students, at a moment when you knew he was disoriented, to conspire with you to hide a wanted fugitive. Then you expose a young student to attack by Death Eaters. Didn't you give any thought for your students' welfare?"

"I worried about that. I told myself that Harry had yet to agree to be a student, although I was actively pushing him in that direction. I felt badly enough that I warned Harry not to see me as a protective Headmaster, but rather as the leader of the Order, who considered him an adult and wouldn't hesitate to ask him to do dangerous things. I treated him no differently than Dumbledore did, although I didn't approve of Dumbledore's actions at the time. I do feel guilty using Harry for purposes of my own, which I didn't disclose. I convinced myself that Margaret was not at risk. I know that I was wrong. I was desperate to help Narcissa."

"Indeed. I will declare in passing that you are not and never were the new leader of the Order. Any rational person knows that the Order no longer exists. We won that battle. Most of our comrades are dead. It is time for all of us to move beyond the past. Which brings us to the questions, which I raised earlier: what are we to do with Narcissa, Draco, and McGonagall? Can we trust them?"

"I would hope that after all these years that you and Arthur and Amelia would know for certain that you can trust me. I might have free-lanced a bit and paid off a personal obligation, but I didn't do and never would do anything to harm any of you or the cause which we have shared for so long. I would also hope that Harry could recognize that I didn't persuade him to do anything awful and could bring himself to trust me again."

"I really doubt that," Harry replied. "For Arthur's sake, I'll try, but it is a shock to realize how thoroughly I've been manipulated and how totally you abandoned me at the first threat to the Malfoys. I can't forget that. The feeling may fade, but I just can't forget it. I also can't forget how you've treated Ginny. I love Ginny. You can't mistreat her and expect my support."

Shacklebolt replied, "I wonder if Minerva hasn't worked at cross purposes with the Ministry for so many years that it's become second nature to her, even when our side is in charge." I saw Harry squirm in his seat a little with that comment. "I sense that you and the Professor need some time to negotiate your status at Hogwarts, before we rush to restore the prior status. We can revisit the Headmastership in a week or two."

"I think we should give them all the opportunity to earn another chance," Harry suggested. "We do still need to get all Wizards pulling in the same direction. Professor McGonagall has played her own games, but been a largely dependable ally. I don't think she would intentionally seriously harm any of us and she does oppose our enemies. She has been remarkably careless with our persons, but I think generally she does have the best interests of the students at heart. I think she has been proven to be terribly wrong about the Slytherins in general and the Malfoys in particular. I'm not ready to consent to stay at Hogwarts with Professor McGonagall restored as Headmaster. Maybe in a couple weeks after things have cooled down. The betrayal is too raw now. I also can't ask Ginny to stay under those conditions. That would tear us apart, which McGonagall has tried to do. She made a viciously nasty comment to Ginny and she tried to get the faculty to pass a motion against me and Arthur. Well, you as well. She may be on the same side, but she really, really dislikes you.

"Personally, I'm not sure that as an individual I will ever have the same level of trust in her that I had up until yesterday. We'll need to work that out over time. Our relationship will have to change.

"If I may be presumptuous, with you and Arthur at the Ministry, most of the Order no longer with us, and Professor McGonagall leading the Order from Hogwarts, I think there is a natural source of tension. You probably should all agree to abolish the Order. Otherwise, Professor McGonagall and the Ministry will find themselves at cross purposes again. I'm not sure that my position at Hogwarts is at all tenable. I think I will always be a source of friction. Perhaps I and the other over eighteen year olds should leave. I'm certainly not comfortable continuing in the role of protector to Draco and his mother. Last night's reception for Lucius was as unnerving, in its own way, as this morning's fight was."

Professor McGonagall looked very upset. "I really don't think that you should leave, Harry. I know I have acted badly and been overly zealous in guarding my independence from the Ministry. I hope that we can work out an arrangement that we can both feel comfortable with. The parents are extremely worried, and the Goblin problems will only make that worse. So will news of the fight with Draco. If you and your friends leave Hogwarts, Hogwarts will collapse. Parents will question how safe their children are, if Harry Potter and the Minister's daughter aren't safe. Many children returned only because your presence made their parents feel safe. I promise that I will never again put you in the position that I did this morning. If it will make you feel better, I have no problem with Neville continuing as Headmaster… for now. Can we revisit that later? I know that this in itself might cause the school embarrassment and drive students away. Maybe we can think of a face-saving reason for Neville to continue as Headmaster."

"I agree that it is very important that you stay this year," Neville told Harry. I can't carry on for even a short time, if all of you leave. The whole situation will unravel. The former Headmaster is not being overly dramatic about that. The fight upset a lot of students. I'm sure a lot of owls were sent home. I'm willing to stay on as Headmaster for a week, if you stay and try to work things out with Professor McGonagall."

"Yes, I'm perfectly willing to allow Headmaster Longbottom to keep my office for another week. I'll certainly try to reach a new understanding with Harry and his friends."

"I think you are presuming a lot, in assuming that you will be Headmaster," Shacklebolt informed McGonagall, a bit frostily. "That is what we are discussing. I knew Harry would take the position he has, but Arthur and I need to be convinced that you will cease your meddling in Ministry business and not go all crazy on us at the first hint of Ministry involvement in things even tangentially related to the running of Hogwarts. You've treated Lucius Malfoy with more trust than you've shown to us and that cannot be allowed to continue. I am not at all comfortable about showing off Lucius in front of your students, as if he is a highly respected member of our community. Word will get back to the parents and, whatever you may think, there is a link between Hogwarts and the Ministry.

"It was far from universally popular to let Lucius off as lightly as we did. We did so, with some misgivings, based partly on the recommendation of Harry and you. Many citizens strongly feel he should spend the rest of his life in Azkaban. I was among that group. Many of those people have lost members of their families and have a keen interest in his treatment. I understand that in your mind, the issue begins and ends with whether or not his presence will persuade Slytherins to return to school. Did you even stop to consider that other students might be traumatized to see the Headmaster dining with and honoring one of the leading Death Eaters? I didn't think so. Arthur and Harry have to think of such things, whether or not you think it intrudes upon your prerogatives. Whatever you may think, your action will be interpreted as a statement by this administration, especially since you decided to come to the Gryffindor table so that you could sit Lucius down next to the Deputy Minister. Whatever you may think, that is gross interference in Ministry affairs. Arthur will decide how and when we signal Lucius's acceptance back into polite society. That is not your job, whether or not you feel you have a debt to repay to your former lover."

"I know, and I apologize. When you explain it like that, I understand why you think it is I and not you who is meddling on the other side of the fence. I realize you have many grounds, including moral turpitude, on which to dismiss me. I'm begging you not to do that. I will be more considerate in the future and less quick to defend my prerogatives. I am good at my job and I have a good plan for improving Hogwarts. I don't think anyone else could do a better job. Neville is very talented, but he's not ready. I will protect all of the students and see that they receive a more meaningful education. Of course I will apologize to Arthur, also. Harry is right that I should stop trying to run a largely nonexistent Order. That should be Arthur's job, if there is to be an Order - otherwise the Order has the potential to undercut him, as I guess I have done. I agree to stop my private crusade to reunify the Wizard world, and to send suggestions to the Ministry and get your approval before acting. I won't monitor the comings and goings of the over-eighteen-year-olds and I'll extend to Harry and his aurors the respect due to a Deputy Minister and members of the auror corps. I'll …"

"That's alright; you don't have to grovel, woman. We just need to know that you've got our backs, not that you're going to be the one sticking a knife into them. I have no problem with you resuming your Headmaster duties, once you sort things out with the Deputy Minister. I realize that this isn't the Deputy Minister's decision, but if you and Neville both believe that Hogwarts can't function if Harry and his friends leave, then I guess it does become at least partially their decision. Arthur and I won't order them to stay here, if they feel unsafe or unwelcome. I think the Governors will need to weigh in on that matter and that your tenure will be probationary with a final decision being made at the end of term, unless you force us to act sooner. The Minister said he would support any decision that Amelia, Harry, and I propose. So that is two provisional votes. Are you agreeable, Amelia?"

"I am. I'm also glad to see the Order disbanded. It was an extralegal organization that could cause a great deal of difficulty for my department." That last comment sent a chill down my back as I was reminded of Ron and his 'Kill!' in Diagon Alley.

Shacklebolt continued, "I'll second what the others have said, and indicate that I also hope that Harry and his friends will remain at Hogwarts. You're sitting atop the volcano, so to speak, and it's good to have people we can trust in that position. I'll leave it to you and the Headmaster to work out the details of your arrangements here. I certainly won't press you to stay if the arrangements aren't to your satisfaction. Neither will Arthur. I'd never ask you to risk a repeat of what happened today."

"Now, to the Malfoys. Dr. White believes that he can save Lucius. There is really no evidence that Lucius has voluntarily violated his end of our bargain, although I'm not at all sure that his Unbreakable Vow hasn't been broken. I don't understand that. It really isn't supposed to be possible. If he recovers, I think our prior arrangement remains in force. He will have to retake the Vow, obviously. And, we'll have to keep an eye on him, for a while. We need to find the person who Imperiused him. That person is the real villain in this affair. I'm sure that you realize as well as I do that Lucius could just as easily have been Imperiused here at Hogwarts as before he arrived. Don't be surprised if you find that I have sent aurors to Hogwarts to investigate that crime."

Amelia and Harry assented to all of that.

"Draco is the trickiest. He isn't as bad as the older Death Eaters, but he did break his agreement. He was given a very big break in avoiding Azkaban or jail. He should have felt a very strong commitment to uphold what was a very favorable deal for him. There were many citizens who thought Draco was treated far too leniently. Professor McGonagall tends to forget that Slytherins are only a quarter of the population and that they have largely been our enemies. Draco behaved very badly. Ginny or Harry might have been killed. I put it to Draco's credit that he was so outnumbered that he had no chance of winning that fight. He didn't have his wand. My hunch is he expected that Harry would beat the crap out of him, but that he needed this to happen to restore his sense of personal dignity after the things his father said to him. Bill didn't put it in the written report, because he could not positively swear that he heard the conversation correctly, but he thinks Lucius told Draco about his mother's and McGonagall's shared past. That probably drove him over the edge. He didn't think his mother would ever lie to him and felt very confident taking her side in family disputes. I don't think Lucius left him any choice but to pick a fight with Harry. A father knows how to stir up his son, even as remote a father as Lucius.

"I agree with Harry that we should give Draco another chance," Shacklebolt continued. "However, I am going to insist, under pain of being accused of interference in school affairs, that all of the Slytherins be removed from Gryffindor. Draco and Pansy are too great a security risk. I'm not sure how to protect Draco, or whether he can remain at Hogwarts. I would suggest that he could live in his mother's apartment. Pansy doesn't belong at Hogwarts."

"I could assign a second apartment to Draco and Pansy," Professor McGonagall suggested.

I must have registered my intense dissatisfaction at that perceived act of extreme favoritism, because Harry immediately sent {[alarm] Calm down. Remember, I'll be negotiating new ground rules with Professor McGonagall.} Professor McGonagall also immediately added, "I'll also have to think about how the other over-eighteen students should be regulated."

{{[Indignant] You'll note that doesn't include better treatment for me.}}

"I don't think a separate apartment for Draco and Pansy is something that I or the other eighteen year olds could live with," Hermione told the group. "We'd feel forced to leave Hogwarts, whatever new arrangements were made with us. After what we've perceived for a while as extremely preferential treatment shown to the Slytherins, this would just be rewarding Draco for bad behavior. All of the students would see it that way. I would take it as a personal insult. If Harry is too well behaved to mention the other point, I will. We can't stay if Professor McGonagall continues to treat Ginny badly. She is using her hold over Ginny to control Harry. Harry may not even consciously realize that, but I assure you that it is true."

"I can tell," Shacklebolt commented, "that giving the adult Slytherins more freedom than you have been willing to give to Harry and his friends is not going to work. Being able to hide out with his mother at Hogwarts and receive protection is already a special favor to Draco. It is most certainly not the case that he should receive endless additional special treatment to persuade him to accept the original favor of your protection. If he's too proud or uppity to stay in his mother's apartment, then he's free to remain in jail or take his chances dodging the Death Eaters. For the moment, I think it best that he remain in jail. I suspect it will take more than a few hours incarceration to impress upon him the seriousness of his actions this morning. Especially with the former Headmaster treating the matter as if Harry was equally guilty. That is certainly not a message that I'm willing to send.

"I also don't see a good reason for Pansy to stay here. She clearly has conspired in the invasion of Hogwarts by Lucius and his man. I won't dictate. Rather, I'll leave that to you and Harry to work out, but you know my view.

"I think we've done all that we need to accomplish here. Amelia and I will let the rest of you get back to your academic pursuits. Before I go, let me say that I have been very impressed by Neville's performance as acting Headmaster.

"We'll show ourselves out. I see you don't have very many notes, Singleton. You can simply indicate that all matters have been concluded, Neville will be acting Headmaster for a week, and that we'll formally decide in a week if the Headmaster will be reinstated, and there will be no prosecutions, for now. If everyone behaves themselves for the next several months, I think we can forget about prosecutions. I'll make certain that Draco is aware that he is on thin ice – Lucius as well. I'll leave it to Professor McGonagall to convey the warning to Narcissa. She has committed crimes and if she is not on very good behavior, she most certainly will be arrested."

As the room emptied, McGonagall said, "I'll be back to discuss future arrangements for your stay at Hogwarts. First, I think I'll go inform Narcissa of the good news."

"Don't tell her that you are going to give Draco and Pansy their own apartment," Harry warned. "That really is a deal breaker."

"If I may be so presumptuous," Hermione interjected, "perhaps I should give the news to Narcissa, while you go and have a talk with Trew. That is assuming you know what you want to do, personally, going forward."

"Yes, that's a better idea. I'd like to meet with Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Molly in our apartment in about an hour. I'll send a Patronus."

We were left in her old office. I noticed that Neville had surreptitiously moved from the Headmaster's chair to stand against the wall, beside Harry's chair. Harry pointed to the Headmaster's chair, and Neville moved back to it.

"I wonder if a week is enough time to get your portrait on the wall, if you've done a really good job," Harry joked to Neville.

"I'll be there, some day," Neville assured Harry, with more confidence than I had seen from the past Neville. He really was a very good acting Headmaster, and he knew it.

"Whether or not you negotiate better rules for the rest of us," I told Harry, "it's just wrong for McGonagall to give Draco his own private apartment as a reward for bad behavior. If that happens, I will leave Hogwarts. I hope you'll come with me."

"I want you to stay here, Ginny," Mom told me.

"I know you do and, if I could, I would do it just to make your life easier. McGonagall has been treating me like a little girl, has denied me honors that I have earned and rightly deserve, and has been posing as our good leader, all the while conspiring against us with her old special friend. I'm old enough to leave school. You can't imagine how frustrating it is to be constantly belittled by McGonagall in ways large and small. You can't imagine how scary it is with McGonagall trying to break up Harry and me."

"Yes, you are old enough. I just hope that you won't do that. You'll make your father very sad and extremely upset that he agreed to allow Professor McGonagall to return as Headmaster. I'm assuming you'd feel better if Neville remains as Headmaster? Your Dad will want a recommendation from you and Harry at the end of the week."

"Yes, I would. I know it's better for everyone else, including Neville, that McGonagall be the Headmaster. I wouldn't interfere with her remaining as Headmaster. I can't stand the favoritism toward Draco and Pansy. It is not even close to being fair, and now Draco gets a reward. He'll spend the rest of the year snickering at the rest of us. Harry knows that's true."

"Why don't you at least see what the Headmaster has to say when we meet with her? If you leave, it will cause another rift between your father and the Headmaster. The first disagreement and she will be gone."

"I really don't want to ruin things for everyone, but I have to do what I think is right for me. I can't stand to spend the rest of the year being treated as I've been treated. "

"Please, calm down and see how things work out," Mom told me. Harry seemed to agree with her. He had stealthily moved into whisper range and I was getting repeat messages {[great worry] Please try to calm down. I don't want things to get so bad that they can't be fixed.}

**Original text**

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	80. Chapter 80

**Chapter Eighty – Trying To Calm the Storm**

The McGonagall patronus bounded up the stairs and we headed off to the apartment.

"Don't you think this makes us just a tad overly subservient?" Ron asked, clearly expressing his answer to that question. "McGonagall sends a patronus and we all come running, just as if she was actually still in charge."

"That is the arrangement we agreed to," Hermione replied, "although I take your point that we surrendered control of the time and place of the meeting towards her. She will try to manipulate us. We should be on guard against that. Don't be too quick to agree with her and don't let her divide us."

"Yes!" I emphatically declared. "She is going to try to make me the bad rebel and pull Harry to her side. She wants to separate us so that she can control Harry."

{[worried] Can you settle down a little? This is a tenuous settlement and we shouldn't do anything to cause it to blow up. McGonagall isn't going to control me as easily as you think she will and I'm certainly not going to allow her to do anything to break us up. I know she's been manipulating me more than I realized. I'm on guard now.}

{{[anger] Why? McGonagall's actions have been breaking us apart. Are you really going to be able to live here as the good citizen Harry, with blatant favoritism being shown to Draco? Do you know what she said to me today, in front of the whole faculty? She snidely told me that it wasn't her fault that you didn't want to snog with me, that she could hardly force you to do so, if you didn't want to.}}

{[terrified] I didn't realize she said that. I'm very sorry. I'm especially sorry that I've led you to believe that I've lost interest and am slipping away from you. I promise you that I love you. I promise you that McGonagall cannot possibly drive us apart. I am very, very sorry that I've been preoccupied with Ministry business. I feel horrible that after all these years of longing for you as my girlfriend, that now that we're together, I've led you to think that I view you as a sister. That's not true at all.

{It would also be very difficult for me to accept any appearance of favoritism towards Draco. Still, I don't want to see McGonagall, Shacklebolt, and your Dad at each other's throats. She can't tear us apart if we don't help her do it. We need to stick together and back each other up.}

{{[a little less anger] Then back me up on this. Force McGonagall to accept terms which will allow me to stay here. She treats me badly as a way of controlling you. I've been denied all the school honors that I've earned. I'm not even Quidditch Captain. I am just not happy under McGonagall's thumb. I really do want to leave. Draco is just the final straw.}}

{[resolve] I agree with you, but I'm not looking for another fight. Okay, if you agree to tone it down, I'll push the issue.}

As Professor Trelawney opened the door, I realized both that Hermione had knocked on the door and that Mom was eyeing Harry and me.

Professor Trelawney led us to seats by the fireplace. McGonagall started things off by asking Harry, "Can we work things out so that you and your friends can remain at Hogwarts?"

"I hope so, but I'm not at all sure that we can," Harry replied. "We have a lot of past history with the Malfoys. It is hard to stomach overt favoritism toward Draco, especially rewarding him for bad behavior. I agreed that you should continue as Headmaster, but I didn't agree that I would stay here. I cannot agree to submit myself or my friends to your whims and schemes."

"I thought we had resolved most of those issues," a surprised McGonagall responded.

"You did some hand waving. You never proposed and I certainly never agreed to any specifics. You said you would in some unspecified way treat the 8th years better. That still leaves Luna and Ginny out in the cold. I know you've tried to manipulate me by controlling Ginny. I can't allow that. Also, that agreement, which you think we had, was before you decided to give Draco and Pansy their own apartment. I agree with Director Shacklebolt that Pansy shouldn't be here. She's trouble and she's already graduated. You just let her stay as yet another prize for Draco. It allows them to study how we would behave during a fight and in almost real conditions. That removes whatever advantage the training gave us. We would be far better served to train on our own, away from Hogwarts. I strongly regret not taking my objections to the Minister at the time. Having a Ministry auror train former Death Eaters in advanced fighting skills is just wrong. I tried to make this work. I feel personally betrayed. I'm trying to eat some of those feelings for the common good and think more strategically than emotionally, but there are some injustices that are very hard to eat."

"Seriously? Your objections are over an apartment?"

"That is one specific objection, but it certainly underscores my point. You say we had an agreement, but the only person in that office who approved of Pansy staying at Hogwarts was you. Director Shacklebolt said he didn't want it, I don't want it, none of the other students wants it, and Madam Bones did not speak in favor of it. Yet you concluded that we had an agreement that included Pansy staying at Hogwarts and that on top of that, you would give her and Draco their own apartment. How can you possibly believe that was agreed."

"I suppose it wasn't agreed. I just know that without Pansy at Hogwarts, there will be no Draco either and then no Narcissa. I know that all three of them, in very short order, will end up murdered. I know very well that they have behaved badly, but that doesn't mean they deserve to be murdered or sent to Azkaban. I agree in theory with you and Shacklebolt that Draco should consider himself lucky to have protection and live at Hogwarts without Pansy. In reality, I know that his pride won't allow him to do that. It is foolishness, but he shouldn't have to die because of that foolishness. He is still young and the young are very prone to foolishness."

She looked at me, as she said that last sentence. Harry basically side-stepped the interruption.

"I don't want Draco dead, but if he dies because of his foolishness, that is on him. I refuse to accept responsibility for that or to be blackmailed over that. My basic objections regard fair dealing for all of us. My objections are over respect, dignity, and your attitude, which we don't see as one of fair application of rules. My objection is toward your breaking the pledge you made when you asked me to stay and help you protect the Malfoys. My objection is toward obviously bad behavior being rewarded in such a blatant way that it becomes a red flag of victory over us, that Draco can wave for the rest of the term. That will become even more serious if the upper level Slytherins return after break. It is more acceptable to simply leave than to accept that outcome. I can live with a chastened Draco returning. I cannot live with being insulted by the triumphant return of a Draco who came out ahead because he ambushed us. I can forgive him for attacking us, knowing the duress and stress his father put him under, but he has to be contrite."

"Of all the mistakes that I have made and willingly apologized for, I'm surprised that you choose to draw the line on this point?"

"If you'll permit me to intercede," Mom said "students have a very intense sense of justice and fairness. A lot has happened that Harry and his friends are unhappy with. Draco's attack this morning and your treatment of Harry were both major betrayals. Now it sounds like you have heard nothing from any of the meetings and are going right back to your prior favoritism towards Draco and Pansy. This seems to be an instance of one injustice too many, perhaps because it was piled on at the end, when we were all assured that agreement had been reached and things would change. It just seems like a very large indicator that things won't really change. It also seems clear that you promised this to Narcissa in advance."

"This is about Ginevra, isn't it? It seems she and I just can't be friends. I'm willing to try, but I'd like to be met half way."

"My daughter can speak for herself. I just don't think you have any realization of how painful your treatment of the Malfoys has been to those of us who have suffered at their hands. We have all supported your attempts to protect and rehabilitate the Malfoys, but you seem to have leapt to lionization of the Malfoys. The fawning and the favoritism are extremely grating, given past history. And I'm talking about our past history here, not yours. If you weren't seeking to expiate past sins, I think that would be obvious to you. I'm stunned that Kingsley isn't calling for your head. You sold all of us on your Malfoy project, without mentioning your relationship with Narcissa, which seems to have been the real reason for that project, despite all your pretty blather about your determination to reunite the Wizarding world. I feel betrayed and I think Arthur will too. You should have trusted us and told us the truth, instead of leaving us to suspect the worst of you. I am urging my daughter to remain at Hogwarts, but I can't and won't order her to stay. Especially not when I agree with her that she hasn't been treated well. I cannot ask her to put up with humiliations big and small, so that you can manipulate Harry to better serve your old lover. How can we trust you, when you've manipulated us since the Battle of Hogwarts and are starting up again with new manipulation over Pansy and the apartment?"

"If I may," Professor Trelawney said. "I can assure you that nobody is as pained by the very presence of the Malfoys as I am. Yet, I see the importance of making this work. You obviously don't want an apartment for Draco. Then give us a different suggestion."

"Send Pansy away and let Draco live in his mother's apartment," Hermione suggested.

"That would never be acceptable to Draco. One of you said that yourself," Professor McGonagall responded.

"Why does the solution have to be acceptable to the bad actor, but not to us?" Hermione complained. "That hardly seems fair. You assume that we are infinitely flexible and will just accept anything, but we won't. We're the only ones who have been acting above board in this whole affair. And despite what you say, this isn't just about Ginny, although I'm not going to ask Harry and Ginny to accept a public defeat and humiliation by Draco. Frankly, I don't think Ron and I could be comfortable with that situation, either. The start of term did not end Draco and Pansy taking their blanket under a tree and very publicly snogging. You never objected. I watched you just walk past them when Draco was lying on top of her and groping her under her robes, with a gaggle of giggly First Years watching. Surely you were aware what was happening."

"Because," McGonagall replied, totally ignoring the last comment "if you think about it, you'll realize that if the deal isn't acceptable to Draco, he will simply leave Hogwarts and he, Narcissa, and Pansy will be murdered within a week. Do you really want their deaths partly on your hands? I don't. It seems our discussion has diverted from what should be the principal concerns to which group of students is going to feel that they've been publicly insulted. I'm trying to keep this school and everyone within it alive. Is there something intermediate between the two proposals that would be acceptable to you?"

"You treat Draco like an infant who is going to pout and hold his breath, until he, Pansy, and his mother are murdered, unless you give him exactly what he wants right away. That's nonsense and you know it! You cannot blackmail me by threatening that the nasty Death Eater-kid who spent all our time together calling me a filthy Mudblood is going to commit suicide unless my friends and I allow ourselves to be debased and humiliated. If you don't already realize it, let me tell you – I'm not nearly as worried about the poor former Death Eater bully being murdered as you are. If I give in to that 'I'll just let myself be murdered' emotional blackmail, then I've let Draco bully me yet again. The most favorable terms that we could accept for them would be to let Draco and Pansy be regular dorm occupants in Hufflepuff, and take away their blanket and picnic basket," Hermione replied.

"That seems fair," Professor McGonagall agreed.

{{[yes!] Thank you, Harry.}}

{You're welcome, but you should really be thanking Hermione.}

"Perhaps we can start from there and try to rebuild trust," Professor McGonagall concluded.

Harry was not going to let her stop at that point. "You also spoke of different treatment for the rest of us. I assume that it goes without saying that we are unwilling to continue in the role of the Malfoy's protectors. We'll be civil to them, but that's it. We also all expect the same relaxation of the rules against public displays of affection, which you were so willing to totally abandon for Draco and Pansy. I also feel that although I'm an eighteen year old and the Deputy Minister, that you are using Ginny's student status and your power to punish her as a weapon to control me. I really can't allow that."

"Draco and his mother are still in danger and in need of protection from the Death Eaters. I understand that you won't be bunking with Draco and don't want to hang out with him, but I hope that you will all do your share of keeping him safe."

"If the Death Eaters attacked Hogwarts, we'd certainly do our best to defeat them. That doesn't mean we'd assign any special priority to protecting the Malfoys. If I saw a Death Eater attacking him in Hogsmeade, I'd help him. If I saw someone whom I didn't recognize as a Death Eater fighting with him, I'd feel no more obligation to help him than I would to intervene in a fight between two strangers. I'd allow my aurors to push me away from the danger and not act heroically. I'm sure Shacklebolt will tell you that's what he expects me to do."

"Yes, I can see that it is too much to expect the Deputy Minister to take a risk to protect Draco."

"It most definitely is," Bill informed her. "I refuse to allow you to even suggest such a thing to the Deputy Minister or the Minister's children. Barb and I are assigned here to protect them, not to allow them to risk their lives to protect Draco. That absolutely cannot be a part of whatever deal you and these students work out. I would have expected you to know that. I can also tell you that a condition of Draco's not being prosecuted and being allowed to return to Hogwarts is that Pansy and all of the Malfoys are barred from carrying wands around Harry and his friends. That includes in class and the Great Hall. If they need their wands for instruction, they will have to do those exercises by themselves. We can't force Pansy to accept those rules, but if she refuses, the Auror Corps will officially request her exclusion from Hogwarts and if you fail to comply, we will recommend to the Minister that he urge the Deputy Minister and his children to leave Hogwarts."

"I didn't realize the Ministry felt so strongly about this."

"They do. You may check with Director Shacklebolt, if you don't believe me. While I have some understanding of what motivated Draco to fight, he still crossed a line. He is on our list of persons who are known threats to the Deputy Minister. The auror protection squads do not aim for ninety percent safe."

"No, I'm sure you don't, but this complicates my situation a little. On the rest of the issue that you raise, Mr. Potter, I think my problem in enforcement of the rule against public displays of affection lay mainly with laxity in regard to Draco. I shall remedy that. I'll permit more slack to the rest of you, but not a lot more. I'll let you know when I feel you've crossed the line. I have no idea why you think I would treat Miss Weasley unfairly to control you."

"Because I've observed you do it, more than once. I seem to be more easily manipulated by you than she is and she serves to reduce your control over me.

"We just came from a meeting, during which you admitted you've been manipulating me for your own purposes, since the Battle of Hogwarts. Take just two minutes ago as an example. I told you why I object to Draco and Pansy having their own apartment and your immediate reaction is 'it's Ginny isn't it?'. You should know I have ample current and past reasons not to agree to give Draco a reward to rub in my face. You followed me to the Ministry this morning and had every opportunity to observe that I was angry at you, all on my own, and having nothing to do with Ginny. You could also observe that the Minister is even more unhappy than I am. You are not going to browbeat or wheedle me into accepting a continuation of your manipulation. I am the Deputy Minister, not your soldier to command as you choose, using whatever deceptions you deem appropriate.

"I'd say in general that you haven't been treating Ginny very well at all, since we returned. We know that you instructed Neville not to allow Ginny to be Quidditch Captain. That was extremely petty and hurtful. That killed a dream that Ginny has pursued from before she came to Hogwarts. That's why I raised the issue. I also know what you said about Ginny and me at the faculty meeting. That was especially nasty. I suspect that you've been trying to break up Ginny and me, and she is far too important to me for me to allow that to happen. I recognize that my staying at Hogwarts benefits the future of the school, but I'm not willing to lose my future wife to stay here and help."

"I promise you that I am not trying to cause you and Ginny to break up. I'd never do something like that. I just wanted you to slow down a little. I deeply regret what I said at the faculty meeting. I was angry and lashing out irrationally. I fully realize how terrible that was. I'm sorry that I didn't apologize sooner. It shouldn't have taken a reminder from Mr. Granger to realize that I had crossed a line.

"I didn't realize that being Quidditch Captain meant so much to Ginny. I just thought that she had a lot on her plate, and that all the time required to be Captain would take away from her academic pursuits. I think she is a very gifted student, and wanted to allow her to fulfill her full potential. I think she can be so much more than just a Quidditch player."

I decided that I needed to speak for myself, despite my pledge to Harry. "I was meeting all of my obligations. Quidditch has been drastically scaled back this term in any case, so there really isn't the possibility of devoting lots of time to being Captain. I believe I worked hard for the Quidditch Captaincy and earned it fairly. I've also been a good student and shown leadership. I've behaved as a good, moral person, so it seems strange that you've singled me out not to receive any of the Hogwarts' recognitions that I deserve. It may seem arrogant, but I also feel that I have achieved enough at Hogwarts to merit being a Prefect or Head Girl, but I'm not. It would certainly be fair for you to point out if I was falling behind or failing in some areas because I was overloaded, but I haven't fallen behind, and it should be up to me to decide what to give up."

"Yes, it should be. I'm sorry that I acted as I did. When it was time to name the Prefects and the Head Girl, I thought you would be Quidditch Captain and wanted to give other students an opportunity for recognition. I agree that you've earned one of those titles. When it came time to choose a Quidditch Captain, I sincerely felt that you were spread thin and needed to focus upon your studies. You missed almost a third of the past term. I also saw another member of the Quidditch team who I thought would benefit from the recognition and leadership opportunity. You already had ample self-esteem and, as the Minister's daughter and Deputy Minister's girlfriend, would certainly be the center of attention and recognition. But, I'm sorry I didn't stick with my original plan and make you Captain. Dumbledore once told me that the worst thing a headmaster can do is to kill a student's dream, unless of course it's an anti-social dream. He said you can lay out what you see as a superior dream, but the student needs to come to that new dream and adopt it naturally. If you just kill the old dream to make way for the new, then the student has no dream at all and will rightfully hate you and refuse to consider the substitute dream. I broke that cardinal rule, and I apologize. I would undo the damage if I could, but we both know that I can't. I think I saw a lot of the young Narcissa in you and didn't want you to miss out on the best intellectual life you could have, as Narcissa did, because of me. In the end, I killed your dream as I killed hers, so I am twice guilty of the same crime. I hope you will try not to hate me and that we can get along better."

"But my so-called recognition is simply basking in the well-earned glory of Harry and my father. That's the approach of a Slytherin girl. I wanted to achieve something on my own, not date my way into reflected glory. I know that I have worked hard to achieve my goals, and I honestly believe that I have achieved them. But you push me aside, because I happen to be Harry's girlfriend. That's why I dislike you, because you don't act fairly as headmaster.

"You told Neville that I should support Jimmy Peakes and practice being a good follower. As the Minister's daughter and the Deputy Minister's girlfriend, the greater part of my life involves being a good follower. What I need are opportunities to practice being a leader. I want to accomplish more in my life than being a good follower. I did support Jimmy. When I returned from supporting Jimmy at practice, on a schedule set by Jimmy, and with other students still filing into the Great Hall, you picked on me, among all those students who arrived with and after me, to lecture for the further delight of Lucius Malfoy and to deduct one of your stupid points from Gryffindor. That wasn't close to fair.

"You certainly haven't been satisfied to be just a good follower in your own life, and I won't accept you turning me into one. I am not a Slytherin girl, and I don't want to be one. "

"I don't want you to be just a good follower. I said I agree that you've earned one of those awards, perhaps more than one. The Headmaster uses the awards and the House points both to teach important principles and motivate and encourage students who can be helped in that way. I'm not saying we would give an award to an unworthy student, merely that there is more that goes into it than simply who has done the most to earn it. Dumbledore gave points to Neville for challenging Harry, when Harry was breaking a serious rule. Neville did well, but those points were also awarded to encourage an overly timid Neville and to make the larger point about the need to challenge your friends when they are about to make a serious mistake in breaking an important rule.

"I thought that you wouldn't benefit from the awards as much as some other students and that they might unfocus you from your studies. You already have self-confidence and to all intents and purposes have outgrown Hogwarts, even though you still have more to learn. Again, I'm very sorry and I apologize for denying you those honors, but what do you suggest that I do?"

"I know you can't change what you've done. What I suggest you do is to treat me fairly going forward and to respect and recognize why I don't much like you."

"I'll take responsibility for supervising Ginny," Mom instantly piped up.

"Fine, so be it. We'll see how all of our new arrangements work out."

"To harken back to my Muggle childhood," Hermione said, "I feel like I'm Dorothy and have looked behind the curtain and seen the Wizard. Oz was never the same again; although it hadn't changed, people just saw it for what it really was all the time. Certainly, for me, Hogwarts and its honors will never be the same again. It just seems so cynical, giving out awards not because the recipient earned them by being the best, but because the headmaster wants to make a philosophical or political point. How can you expect students to react well to a system that is basically unfair? I know Harry and I and I'm sure a lot of students looked at the Hogwarts trophy cases and the names of the students who won awards for particular achievements and were inspired to work hard and add our own name to the list, so that our children could see it years later, just as students today seek out their parents' names. Now you say it's basically all a fraud."

"It's not a fraud if it serves its purpose and inspires Hogwarts students, as you say it did. All of those award recipients deserved their awards, even if they weren't always the most deserving. The award helped them and their fellow students to be the best that they could become. It's a vehicle to motivate students and to maintain discipline at Hogwarts.

"It is not something that you are supposed to cling to throughout life. Graduates don't normally even return to Hogwarts. There's a reason parents leave their children at platform 9-3/4 and that we don't have a parents' day or even bring parents to Hogwarts for graduation. Once you leave here, you are supposed to focus upon your real life. I'm sure Ginny will do just fine when she graduates, especially so if not being Captain focuses her more on her studies. It certainly won't hurt her to practice being an effective, loyal team member on the Quidditch squad and support Jimmy Peakes. Being Captain will do a lot for Jimmy's confidence and future development at Hogwarts."

"Just the same," Hermione replied, "Ginny might justifiably want her children to see her name in the trophy case for something she, herself, achieved, rather than just telling them what a big deal it was to be their father's girlfriend. Being Captain might also mean more to Jimmy if he received the honor next term, when he knows that he actually earned it. I also don't think you'd have been so eager to make Jimmy the Captain if the rightful Captain was somebody other than Ginny."

"I think you're over-reacting, Hermione. I admit I've done some things that I wish I could undo, but I've not set out to hurt or insult Ginny. I've certainly not been trying to break up Harry and Ginny. If you think about things logically, I may not have given Harry an apartment, and I could hardly allow a seventh year to live in Harry's apartment, even if I had given him one. Pansy and Draco are both past Hogwarts age. If they weren't I certainly would never have considered letting them share an apartment. I also wouldn't consider it if I didn't know that Narcissa was actively seeking that arrangement. Perhaps I pushed that solution stronger and longer than I should have because Narcissa wanted it so badly that I too-quickly agreed her request, without thinking how others would react to it. As it is, I have to go back and tell Narcissa that the deal we made is off. I haven't treated Harry and Ginny as unequally as you claim. I did give Harry his own private office. The door locks. I know Ginny visits Harry there. I've never questioned what they did, when they were there together. Molly didn't object, so I didn't object. There was nothing stopping them from being as adventurous as they wished. I can hardly be expected to accept the blame if Harry …"

"I think we all got your point the first time, Headmaster," Mom interrupted her.

"Yes, Minerva, I don't think you should say any more," Professor Trelawney agreed.

I wanted to flee, as fast as I could. Harry seemed to want out as well, but paused to look back over his shoulder and give McGonagall a very long and very cold stare.

As I stepped back to grab Harry, I heard Mom whisper to McGonagall "I fear that you've just made an enemy of Harry."

Break, break, break

There are perils to seeking a quick resolution, before tempers have cooled. A young Witch who saw her brother killed four months ago isn't about to accept any crap from those she associates with the people responsible. In fact, she not about to accept any crap from people who associate with those associates of evil. Perhaps she won't accept any crap from anyone at all.

**Original text**

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	81. Chapter 81

**Chapter Eighty-One – Our Feud Simmers **

We left the apartment and Harry and I set off ahead of the others to the refuge of his office. Unfortunately, in the excitement of the day and our meeting with McGonagall, Harry had once again forgotten that he had loaned the office to George and Luna. We backed out of the office, offering profuse apologies, but not before George exclaimed "Dad put you up to this, didn't he?"

"You have to stop giving away the office," I told Harry. "Why don't we ever get any time on your couch? It isn't fair. I really do want to go off and live in our own house. This is not good. You apologized about being distant and then you gave away the office again. We're the only ones who don't get to use it."

"I am sorry. I told George he could have the office, before we had our talk. In all of the excitement, I just forgot. I'll make sure that we can use it."

We walked out of the castle and found ourselves next to the lake. We just exchanged whisper messages for about an hour. Harry assured me that he really did love me and wanted to get married after we graduated, but that he was feeling a lot of stress, both from his Deputy Minister duties and from Dad's, and, Harry admitted, his own worry that our relationship had just taken off over the summer and was moving too fast. Harry said he shared Dad's worry that I wouldn't graduate from Hogwarts. Harry said my repeated talk of wanting to drop out and join the Harpies or run off with him was upsetting. We hugged and snogged and I ended agreeing that as long as Harry really loved me, and he said I should have no doubt since I could read his mind, that I was okay with not speeding things up, but I still expected regular snogs, without my having to prompt him. I told him that I needed to know that he was as eager to go off and snog as I was.

He assured me that he was, but that things were really tense at the Ministry, so the thought-reading bothered him and caused him to keep his distance. He didn't want me to be suspected of being a leak source, and said Dad was really dwelling upon embarrassing leaks from the inner circle. Harry sometimes felt Dad was looking at him and whom he may have spoken to, with my name unmentioned but hanging in the air, second only to McGonagall. As we headed back to Gryffindor, I felt better about Harry and me, but couldn't help blurting out "so you mean Dad doesn't trust me?"

"It's not that he doesn't trust you, or doesn't trust me, it's just that he's upset and getting suspicious of everyone, since he can't find the guilty party. For now, McGonagall is his main target, because he's angry with her, but the main suspect varies. We've all had our turn."

Harry told me that he was very concerned that I felt I was reduced to being the good supporter, because he was Deputy Minister. He said he found it repugnant that McGonagall seemed to think I wanted to bask in the reflection of whatever glory the largely powerless job of Deputy Minister provided and doubly repugnant that she assumed that this would be enough to content me. Harry assured me that he didn't want to limit me and was happy for me to seek my own glory and that he would be a good supporter when I did that. He certainly planned to support me in my role as Mother of the Future and to cheer me on in my Quidditch matches.

I told Harry that he was a good person and that I didn't suspect him of that, at all. I told him that he was blind if he didn't think that my father felt that way. Harry said he was afraid of starting a fight by supporting my father, but that I should remember that I was Arthur's daughter, not his girlfriend or wife. He said Dad was fully supportive of Mom teaching at Hogwarts.

"That's true," I agreed, "but that is also because it saves Mom sitting back at the Burrow worrying and gives Dad greater freedom to be Minister. Mom complains that Dad freezes her out of Ministry matters."

As soon as we passed the fat lady portal, Harry apologized to Luna and George, both for barging in on them a second time and for not consulting them before he said some of the things that he had said to McGonagall. "It got very emotional in there, and I said what I felt needed to be said. I didn't intend to put you in a position where you couldn't stay, if you want to."

"No, if McGonagall forces you out, we're leaving also," George assured Harry. "I certainly refuse to be treated as less of an adult than Draco and Pansy. I agree with you. I also noticed she was not at all willing to give up the apartment idea. Likely that is something she promised Mrs. Malfoy".

"I have some advice for all of you," Mom told us. "My first bit of advice is not to talk to Professor McGonagall again until we've all had a good night's sleep, and then to act like nothing has happened and hold up our end of the bargain. A little less trusting and more independent, but civil and respectful is the right approach. Draco will be returned to Hogwarts in time for breakfast tomorrow.

"My second bit of advice is to talk to Draco and form your own opinion of how he is likely to behave in the future, before you talk to McGonagall or to his mother.

"My final bit of advice is to let someone who is less emotionally involved than Harry or Ginny handle the next discussion with McGonagall. I suggest George and Luna, but make your own decision. We are going down to dinner now - control your emotions and don't make a scene. Don't let Pansy upset you. If you can help it, don't even speak to McGonagall, or Pansy, or Narcissa. Just have a nice dinner among yourselves. Possibly sit with a nice, optimistic young girl like Margaret, who worships all of you. Let's eat. Things will seem better tomorrow."

We ate.

McGonagall had arranged for a very fine meal, not that I can be bought off by a very fine meal. Mom was right about Margaret boosting our mood. By dessert, we were feeling well enough to enjoy the food. We refrained from even looking at the staff table and kept a wall of students between ourselves and Pansy.

Draco was at breakfast, with an auror to guard him. He tried to approach Harry, but Harry said we'd meet after breakfast. Draco sat apart from the Gryffindors, eating with his mother and Pansy. All three seemed worried. After breakfast, a wandless Draco accompanied us to the empty potions room and we settled down for a chat.

"We need to talk about what happened yesterday," Harry said to Draco. "We treated you well and protected you, and you attacked us. You had pledged your good behavior, when you were allowed to live with us in Gryffindor."

"I'm sorry about that. I think you know that I held up my end of our bargain, prior to yesterday. I was goaded into action by my father, or at least by an Imperiused version of my father. I think you know how my mother betrayed me. I think busting the deal was a way of getting back at her. I could no longer stand being at Hogwarts with her, and with my father under arrest again. I had no chance of winning the fight or seriously hurting you. I was just angry."

"But you nearly did kill Ginny. You kicked her in the head and tried to stomp on her throat."

"I don't know how that happened. I didn't plan to fight her, I wanted to fight you, but you were too hard to goad. When she punched me, I was overcome by a rage. I just couldn't control my rage. In my defense, I still never drew my wand."

"You didn't have a wand," I reminded him.

"After what you did, we can't trust you. What do you suggest that we do from here"? Harry asked calmly.

"I'll take Pansy and leave Hogwarts. That's what I want to do anyway. I've told my mother that. I can't hide here any longer on her terms. My father was right about that much. I really am sorry about what happened and grateful for your prior help and for putting in the good word to get me released. Pansy and I will take our chances together on the outside."

"There is another problem. You have McGonagall's secret that you can hold over her to cause trouble."

"I think we all know the answer to that. The only way to defuse such a secret is to make it public. McGonagall will have to figure out how to do that," Draco concluded.

"I agree. You're welcome to hide out at Grimmauld Place until you find your own hideout amongst the Muggles. We'll track down the remaining Death Eaters as soon as we can and then you'll be able to come out of hiding."

"You're the strangest foe I've ever met, except for Dumbledore. I'll take you up on your offer. Kreacher can take us to your house. Promise me that you won't tell mother where I am. I'll contact her when I'm ready. If she wants to send me a message, she can send it to Pansy's friend, Millicent Bulstrode. Don't tell her for a few days. I need time to make arrangements with Millicent and don't want to be caught doing so. Goodbye, Harry."

"Goodbye. I promise not to tell your mother, but Kreacher would certainly tell her. Baal will take you there."

As luck would have it, our first class of the day was Advanced Wizard History, with McGonagall. It was a class of sixth and seventh years, but Cissy had wangled permission to attend. We deliberately arrived early enough to take seats in the very back of the room, leaving the other students to figure out who would sit in our customary up-front seats. Professor McGonagall's lecture was unusually restrained, containing a fair amount of material about the founding of Hogwarts which she had taken from Hermione's summer lecture. Cissy was aware of this and kept looking behind her to see how Hermione and the rest of us were reacting to this. We tried to remain perfectly quiet and as expressionless as possible, even when McGonagall asked, "Is there something the matter, Miss Montaigne?" It was the first class in memory in which Hermione didn't raise her hand to answer any of a professor's questions. At one point, McGonagall even asked "don't you want to volunteer an answer to my question, Hermione?"

Hermione kept a perfectly straight face, as she answered "I think you're aware that I know the answer, professor. I thought I'd give one of the younger students a chance." Unfortunately, Cissy could neither keep a straight face nor refrain from turning to look at Hermione. An irked McGonagall announced, "I expect better order than that in class, Miss Montaigne. That is one point from Gryffindor." We followed the rest of the lecture in silence. As we were getting up to leave, McGonagall announced, "Mr. Potter and the many Weasleys – my office, now. You too, Miss Granger."

I expected her to turn toward the Headmaster's office, but then realized that it was not her office at the moment. We followed her back to her teaching office. There weren't nearly enough chairs. Harry and Hermione sat, while the rest of us leaned up against the rear wall of the office. "I don't know what game all of you were playing during my class, but I'll acknowledge that I noticed. That's not what I wanted to speak to you about. I understand Draco is planning to leave Hogwarts."

"He and Pansy have already left," Harry replied.

"Is this your doing?"

"No, it's your doing. He told his mother he was leaving before we spoke to him, although I agree with his decision. He can't stand to be under the same roof as his mother, or I imagine, you, even a roof as big as Hogwarts'. That also makes him suspect and possibly dangerous. He's now siding with his father, not his mother, and Lucius was the committed Death Eater. He'll likely get over it in time, but that was the first time he caught his mother in a big lie to him and he feels betrayed, after siding with her against his father."

"I don't want you working against me for the rest of the semester, Potter."

"No problem, I'm being a model citizen, just as I have been from the moment I returned to Hogwarts last summer. My approach to you may lack its normal warmth and trust, but I assure you I will be civil and punctiliously correct, and that I will support you when you need my support and I believe your actions should be supported. We'll see if anything develops beyond that, in the course of the next several weeks."

"Alright, I won't push the matter, for now. The reason that I brought you here is that I'm worried about Narcissa. I feared that you would drive Draco from Hogwarts or that he would decide on his own to leave. Now that Draco is gone, Narcissa is also likely to leave and she won't be safe outside Hogwarts. I have several requests. First, would you talk to Narcissa and try to persuade her to remain at Hogwarts. Second, if that fails, will you let her stay at Grimmauld Place, again?"

"On the first point, yes I'll speak to Narcissa. I don't understand her enough to know whether it is wise for her to stay or not. It would certainly be best for Professor Trelawney, if she left. On the second point, my house is unavailable at the moment, but I'll reconsider that request in a little while, if the house becomes available."

"You won't even provide her a safe house to flee to?"

"I would, even though she burned me in the past on that particular gesture – my own house is no longer safe for ME. Narcissa and Kreacher can access it whenever they choose. But as I said, the house is not currently available. I'll be happy to talk to Narcissa at any time."

"With that attitude, I don't really see any point, do you?"

"It's not an attitude. My house truly is unavailable at the moment. I don't plan on divulging any state secrets or the reason for its unavailability, if that's what you're fishing for. If it were available, I'd probably allow Narcissa to stay there, although I'm really not totally sure of that. I have very good reason not to trust her. I don't want her dead, I don't wish her ill, I'm sorry she is estranged from both her husband and her son, I agree with you that she isn't really a bad person, but she is also not to be trusted. She lied to me repeatedly."

"Alright then, perhaps you should talk to Narcissa, after all. If you're going back to your Common Room, I'll ask her to come and see you there." Harry nodded that this would be satisfactory.

As we were about to leave, McGonagall addressed Hermione, "you know, Miss Granger, I do give extra credit for class participation."

"Not a problem," Hermione replied. "I intend to do well enough on the exam to earn full marks. I do expect, however, that when somebody steals my independent research results, that I at least be credited with a verbal footnote. That is the reason that I wasn't responding in class and that Cissy kept checking to see what my reaction was going to be. She was as aware as I was of what you were doing." With that, we made a polite departure, or at least a departure.

We did not have to wait long for Narcissa's arrival, nor for her to get to the point. "I'm very worried about Draco, he isn't safe outside Hogwarts. Unlike Professor McGonagall, I know that you're not responsible for his departure, but I think you know where he is and that you could persuade him to return."

"He is very angry with you and doesn't want to stay with you or Professor McGonagall," Harry honestly told her. "To stay here is to be under your and McGonagall's control, and that is unacceptable to him. I understand how he feels. I feel the same way, and he has greater provocation than I do. I'm also not sure that I want him here. He is siding with Lucius in your battle. We don't trust Lucius and that makes us regard Draco as a possible threat. He also attacked Ginny. I really don't want him back here. He's safe for now. I'm sure he wants to talk to his father, when he revives in non-Imperiused form."

"I'm sure he does also, and he will be in very great danger when he tries to do so. Thicknesse will be expecting that."

"I don't disagree, and I'm willing to arrange security for Draco if he lets me know when he wants to visit his father, but Lucius is well guarded. If Lucius was Imperiused, then the Death Eaters already found him, but in that case it's very strange that he is still alive. Who else would Imperius him?"

"He could have done it himself, I mean he could have had a friend do it to him, as an excuse for the action that he planned to take and did take. As you said, why wouldn't the Death Eaters just kill him?"

"They Imperiused Hermione's parents to use them as a weapon, rather than kill them, so it's possible they did the same with Lucius."

"When you say 'possible' I know that you don't think that explanation any likelier than I do. The Death Eaters had no argument with Hermione's parents - it was you they were after. If the Death Eaters Imperiused Lucius, it would be only to have him murder you or McGonagall, not to turn Draco against me. Let me just beg you to help Draco if you can. I don't expect a decision now.

"There was another issue that I wanted to talk to all of you about. Minerva doesn't know that I'm speaking to you about this."

"Yes?" Harry prompted her.

"I know that she is very upset by the rift between your group and herself. I understand that neither your last class with her nor your last two meetings went very well at all. She's desperate to patch things up."

"We were planning to have a less emotional next meeting with her, by assigning Luna and George to meet with her and try to work out an arrangement that we all can live with."

"You're the leader. Can't you meet directly with her and not have the meeting become overly emotional? She is a good person and the smartest person I've ever known. She was just trying to do what she felt was the honorable thing and pay off an old debt to me.

"It's partly my fault. I was so desperate and frightened that I imposed a very high sense of urgency and obligation upon her. She didn't think she had any other choice. She saw herself as being responsible for destroying my life a second time. I loved Minerva and wanted to be with her forever, but the forced marriage to Lucius turned me from a very bold, bright and idealistic young student who was prepared to confront anything to the frightened, unhappy Witch you see today. Minerva holds herself responsible for that transformation. I think Ginny and Hermione remind her of the younger me and she grieves and blames herself that I did not become, what she feels I should have and would have, without her intervention.

"I don't believe my father would ever have allowed me to become the person I wanted to be, so I don't blame Minerva as she blames herself. I know that your group intensely dislikes Slytherin women, but you should know that ours is not an easy life, at least not for my generation. We were commodities to be bartered off by our fathers to bridge a rift between families or to secure a business advantage. Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Witches have always had more control of their lives. It is the rare Slytherin girl who doesn't at least somewhat envy them."

"You've explained exactly why we need a more neutral negotiator than me. You see Professor McGonagall as rightfully paying back an overdue personal debt. I see her as tricking me into paying back that debt for her. I thought she asked us to help her on behalf of the Order, not to settle a secret private debt. I feel betrayed by her and I'm angry.

"Actually, I'm not as angry now as I was and I think things will work out over time if she stops pushing for an instant resolution. Hot emotions don't completely die down in an hour or a day and while the embers are still glowing, it's very easy to stir up a flame. It is best that we minimize contact with each other until all the hot emotions have died. The meeting that you said went badly, ended with a lot of hope for resolving things, but when it started to go badly was when I expressed my feelings and concerns and her comment was 'it's Ginny, isn't it'.

"I can't talk to her now. She refused to acknowledge how big of an insult we all felt it would be, after everything that happened, for her to reward Draco and Pansy with their own apartment. That wasn't just Ginny or me, it was all of us. When I took the risk of letting you stay at my house with Kreacher, I thought I was doing so to help the Order and our common goals. I'm not happy to learn that you broke our agreement and used my house as a base of operations from which you attacked Hogwarts. You could easily have killed Mr. Filch. I can't just forget that happened or fail to reflect on the dangers of sharing a room with Draco, also at McGonagall's request. The aurors are kicking themselves about that as well. She betrayed the trust of a lot of people."

"I think you should know that Minerva wasn't just acting out of personal motives. She really did believe that her actions were for the good of the Order and your shared cause. I think I supplied her with as much intelligence on the Death Eaters over the years as Snape provided to Dumbledore. I also think I ran as great a risk in doing so as Snape did and that I cost a lot less than Snape did in trouble and problems with information flowing back to Voldemort, than Snape did. I have been every bit as much a member of the Order as Snape, so I was more than just a past indiscretion to Minerva. Minerva didn't tell you everything that motivated her actions, but neither did Dumbledore. You aren't angry at Dumbledore as you are at Minerva. I think that's all she really means by 'it's Ginny'. You and Ginny think she's both being too hard on Ginny and fighting your being together, and that also makes both of you angry. You shouldn't be bitter; she was your friend and mentor."

"There was a time, when I first learned of Dumbledore's manipulation of me, when I was almost as angry at him as I am at McGonagall. I later understood and accepted his motivations. They weren't personal. They were aimed at helping others. He even died to protect a student. Your son, in fact. A lot of people have sacrificed to protect Draco. In time, I may accept McGonagall's motivations as valid and not simply personal. In that case, I'll get over this fairly soon and not become bitter. I'll definitely consider what you said about your service as a spy for the Order. That definitely could change my view of things. One thing that Draco made clear to me before he left is that the secret of you and McGonagall can't remain secret. He convinced me that there is only one solution to that problem. You need to convince McGonagall of that."

"I'll try to do that. She isn't holding back to protect her position or reputation. It's because she knows it will be very painful to Trelawney. She feels that Trew already doesn't get a lot of respect at Hogwarts, and that the revelation would make life here unbearable for her. I don't know what Trelawney would do if she left Hogwarts.

"Let me leave you one last thought when you compare Dumbledore and McGonagall. They're much more alike than you admit. A traumatic past guilt had a great impact on both of them. They both had their secret spies in the Voldemort camp, people whom nobody else in the Order trusted or would have trusted. In the end, I was serving the Order as well as protecting Draco when I deceived Voldemort about your death. You've made your peace with Dumbledore and Snape. Please try to do the same with Minerva and me. I know this will take time - Minerva is unrealistic in expecting a quick resolution. I also have a few words for Ginny."

"Yes? What are they?" I replied.

"I can assure you that Minerva doesn't hate you, or want to break up you and Harry, or to make life difficult for you. She is overly protective of you, both because you are still a student and because you remind her of me. She doesn't want to see you run off before you graduate and have a lesser life than you should have. I think she also sometimes gets upset that you don't show a typical student's deference toward her. I really don't think there is anything more to it than that. I know Minerva well and I have talked to her about this."

"Hermione can be very happy just being a scholar, with a little adventuring on the side. I'm a much more active person. I can enjoy scholarship, but I also need activity. It's not just the Quidditch; it's also a far greater interest in the adventuring than Hermione has. I've helped Harry kill two Giants, you know. That was on our trip to the Continent, which Professor McGonagall tried to prevent me from participating in, by the way. As far as what concerns Professor McGonagall about me, you should know there is at least one more thing to it. She is concerned that I have sufficient influence upon Harry that it makes it harder for her to control him."

"Maybe a little bit of that, but Harry is a difficult person to control and Hermione and Ron would abet him in any rebellion if Minerva tried to be too controlling. Arthur and Kingsley would, also. I think she is capable of realizing that. With that I'll leave you all with one last thought before I depart. You are all being too trusting of Lucius. He likely deserves to be back in Azkaban."

Harry went off to the Ministry to discuss Narcissa's comments with Shacklebolt. George and Luna prepared to visit McGonagall, although they followed Harry's suggestion to give Narcissa a chance to meet with her first. Hermione went to the library to make up for time lost from her ghost research, Ron decided to study, and I sat down for a chat with Mom, in which she said she had no concerns about my behavior, but that I should do whatever I could to persuade Harry to patch things up with Professor McGonagall. It was also clear that she had pretty much figured out the whisper talk thing. She told me that she had displayed a slight ability in that direction with Dad and with Fred. The mention of Fred sent us both into the weepies.

Our mutual consoling session was interrupted by a scream from the girls' dorms. Mom and I raced each other to the top of the stairs, finding a very upset Margaret and a perturbed Cissy. A few surprised lower level girls, including Hermione's Mom, were clustered around them, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"I saw him myself," Margaret was saying. "I didn't think he was real, but I saw him. He was in Cissy's bedroom, sitting on her bed and chatting with her. He looked just like she described him. I startled them and he ran straight at me. That's when I screamed. He ducked into the bathroom."

"It's not a cause for alarm," Cissy reassured her. "He is very friendly and wouldn't harm any of us. You just frightened him, so he ran away. I wish people would stop scaring him away. I want to learn more about him and he was just starting to tell me about himself."

Mom and I drew our wands and approached the bathroom door. Mom kicked it open and I took a quick look inside. I didn't see anything, so we both went in. We had a good enough view of the whole room to know that he was either in one of the stalls or he had escaped. Cissy followed behind us begging "Please don't hurt him. He isn't dangerous. I don't know if he even had a wand." I assured Cissy that we had no desire to harm her mysterious friend, but that we did need to get to the bottom of this.

I knelt down and looked for legs, but didn't see any. I was well aware of the old trick of standing on the toilet, so I looked through the gap around each stall door, but saw nothing. Mom guarded me as I kicked the doors open one by one. Finding nobody present, we went back out to the corridor to interview any girls who may have been inside the bathroom.

There hadn't been many girls in the dorm, since most were either in class or enjoying the pleasant day out on the grounds. In addition to the four girls gathered around Margaret and Cissy when we had arrived, three others had joined them. Some I recognized, some I didn't. Two first years, Mary and Penelope, were the only girls who said they were in the bathroom when they heard the scream. They had been in the first and third stalls, had heard a scream and then immediately someone had come running into the bathroom and into the second stall. They had initially hidden quietly where they were, lifting their feet off the ground to remain hidden, but had then become sufficiently overcome by fright that they had nearly simultaneously decided to make a mad dash to the safety of the corridor.

The other two girls, who had been in the original group, Alice Spencer and a second year named Matilda, said they had come from their dorm rooms when they heard the scream. The newcomers had lingered in their rooms longer and had no information to provide us. None of the girls had seen a boy leaving the bathroom. We reassured all the young girls that they were in no danger, promised them that Hermione and I would make another, 'more careful' at the girls' insistence, search for hidden passages and left them chattering amongst themselves.

My view of Cissy's new boyfriend, as well as her sanity, had changed drastically with Margaret's report of seeing Alex. I had no idea how to explain the mysterious appearances and disappearances of a strange, cute boy in Gryffindor, but at least felt better about Cissy.

Our prior mood broken, I didn't want to resume my chat with Mom, but was thinking I would have little choice, when I was rescued by the arrival of Neville. "I thought I'd move back part time and room with Harry and your brothers," Neville told me. "I thought you and I might have a chat."

Mom had little choice but to permit me to wander over to the far corner with Neville. "Remember Dumbledore said I was supposed to hold Harry back when he wanted to do something stupid. I'm afraid that the battle with McGonagall is approaching the level of stupid.

"I think she is more than willing to capitulate and let all of you basically do what you want, if you'll just back off for a minute and let her achieve the change in a way that saves her enough face to be able to succeed as Headmaster. She is on the verge of quitting again, after the treatment you all gave her in class today and at the meeting afterward. I understand Harry told Narcissa that they should make the secret public. That would cause all kinds of problems. McGonagall is holding on by her fingernails and just trying to make it through to the end of the year and assess where things stand at that time. She isn't sure that your father will even let her take over as Headmaster for the rest of the year. I don't want to keep filling in for her. It really isn't fair to either of us. There will eventually be a permanent Headmaster, whether or not it is McGonagall. I don't want to be known as that uppity kid first term professor, who stupidly thought he could be Headmaster and who actually had friends at the Ministry who made him Headmaster. That makes me like Delores Umbridge. I know Luna and George are meeting with McGonagall now. You have a lot of influence with Harry. If you could persuade him to give her a chance, please do so.

"You don't understand how deep the feud between the Headmaster and Shacklebolt has become. She stupidly challenged him and his aurors when the train was late and again after the fight with Draco. Shacklebolt takes that very personally and McGonagall knows she is in trouble. Harry hasn't told you everything. When your father learned that Draco was able to kick you in the head and almost stomped your neck, he was furious. Even Shacklebolt couldn't calm him down. He blamed the aurors, but he mainly blamed McGonagall. Apparently nobody bothered to tell him that you and Harry were sharing rooms with Pansy and Draco. He called that highly irresponsible, and said he never would have approved this. Again, he blames McGonagall. Your father is extremely protective of you. McGonagall has lost her key supporter. Without Harry's support, she's finished. She won't even be able to stay on as a professor. Please help. I'm not ready to be Headmaster. And please, don't ask me who told me about this."

"I don't want the whole situation to blow up and leave you to pick up the pieces. I'll do what I can. She just needs to give us some time and space to allow things to cool down. Continuing to discuss things with her every hour will make things worse, not better."

"Believe me, she understands that. I don't think she can help herself. But she thinks you're still the biggest roadblock to making peace with Harry, and she just doesn't seem able to let things lie until she gets the problem with you solved. I think she realizes that she hasn't treated you fairly, and that she's hurt you, but she doesn't know what she can do to correct that. She's more than willing to completely back off and let your mother deal with you. She does like you and did think she had your best interests at heart. She still doesn't really know how to interact with you - you've changed so much from the Ginny she used to know. The two of you got along fine, once upon a time. With your permission, I'll speak to McGonagall, if you'll speak to Harry. We all really need to make peace. We have enough outside problems without fighting among ourselves. I know you revved Harry up to get what you wanted on Draco, but Harry was already upset. I worry that Harry's a natural crusader and that you have him close to the point that none of us will be able patch things up between him and the Headmaster.

"I've sort of become the Headmaster's translator to explain the feelings of our generation, or at least those of us who fought the war. It's not an entirely pleasant responsibility. I'm doing my best. If I inadvertently do something that offends you, just view it as a mistake and know that I mean well. The Headmaster regrets excluding you from the Quidditch captaincy. She also realizes that since the practice was controlled by the Captain she named, and nobody gave any of you advance warning that Malfoy was coming, that it is hardly your fault that you were late to dinner. She has been very emotional with the start of school, even before the train incident. You're not the only one she's been testy with. We were all under a lot of stress from the fighting and taking on leadership of Hogwarts is very intimidating, I can tell you that from personal experience. All the lack of support she got for her solidarity resolution is partly based on the facts, but also based on all the grief she's dumped on the staff while she's been in this mood. She won't be able to relax until you, Harry, and Hermione relax. If Harry knows where Draco is, it would help if he told her. I'm going to live at Gryffindor for a while and try to be a calming influence. Shacklebolt was more right than he knew when he said we were living on top of the volcano."

I promised Neville that I would try to calm both myself and Harry. I think I took reassurance from the chat with Neville. I at least determined to dial back my anger at McGonagall and present a happy face to Harry and the others. This resolve was aided by a profusion of good news as we approached dinner time. Harry returned to announce that both the bank charter extension and the bill establishing the loan agency for young Wizards were approved. Apparently, with the troubles in the Goblin kingdom, the Wizengamot didn't want to let the bills continue to drag out and also saw the chance to sweeten the Gringott's charter bill at a time when King Goblanze had no choice but to concur.

Harry was in a very good mood as a result. He said Shacklebolt and my Dad wanted to take us all out to dinner at my favorite Muggle restaurant tomorrow night. That also brightened my mood a notch. Harry reported that Shacklebolt believed what Narcissa had told us. It was very plausible that Lucius was Imperiused by an ally to give him an alibi. That was apparently quite common back in the day. Harry said that Shacklebolt had pondered for a long time, but came back to his office an hour later to announce "I can well believe that Narcissa could have been a spy for McGonagall. There were times when McGonagall knew things about the Death Eaters that I didn't believe she possibly could know, unless she were a Death Eater pal, herself. It actually explains a lot. That was one reason why I never fully trusted her and why we haven't gotten along better than we have."

I told Harry "both Mom and Neville think it is very important that we give Professor McGonagall a fair chance and try to forgive her. Neville thinks she won't disturb us and wants to improve the situation, but needs a face-saving way out. He doesn't think she can afford to publicly reveal the secret."

{[relief] That's fine with me. I don't want to feud with her. I just want to know we'll be treated fairly and not manipulated for her personal benefit. I'm encouraged that she wants to go in a new direction.}

We hadn't had time to do more than have this brief discussion and a quick hug and very appropriate-in-the-presence-of-first-years mini-snog, when Luna and George returned from their very long meeting with Professor McGonagall.

"I think it's all right, guys," George summarized. "Luna gave Professor McGonagall a much clearer gut feel of our position. I think she was a little surprised that those of us besides the two of you feel as strongly as we do about the Draco experiment. She needed to hear the story from someone who was a prisoner in the Malfoy dungeon as long as Luna was – someone who had to listen to Hermione being tortured. Professor McGonagall knows we felt strongly about all the training that the Slytherins shared with us, but explained that she feared they might need to defend themselves, as is now the case, and probably underestimated the threat that we saw them as.

"I just don't think she had a gut feel for how much hatred was built up between all of us and the Slytherins over years of bad treatment, and how super big a concession to her all of us made in agreeing to treat Draco as we did. Luna told her that keeping the pledge to protect Draco and treat him well was among the hardest things she had ever done, and that it must be ten times worse for Hermione and the two of you. I think McGonagall finally understands. She wants us to stop protesting and try to gradually trust her and warm up to her again. She promises not to try to control us. She says that she normally would have credited Hermione for her research, but that she was so upset that she just went through the facts with only half of her brain engaged. She says she's thinking about her secret, but doesn't think she's able to spread the news more widely, although she knows she can't prevent others from doing so. Relax; it was clear she was referring to Draco and his father."

"I think the two of you did a great job," Harry congratulated them. "We can set the secret aside. If it does leak out, it hurts her, not us. I just didn't feel comfortable having this to hold over her head. I can't deal with her on that basis."

"She knows the secret is safe with you."

We didn't see Hermione until we had already sat down to dinner. She came with a look that said her research had met with success. She sat across from us, between Ron and George, and immediately launched into a summary of what she had discovered. "I think I found a way to kill a ghost, reading through the Flamel papers with Gabrielle. It's a very good thing we found it today. She's debating whether she should return to France to be with her parents and school chums, to share their current woes.

"Anyhow, Flamel proposed and actually tested a scheme to 'vitiate a spirit and cause it to decay into nothingness'. He wrote it up in complex detail, but it basically comes down to split the ghost into as many pieces as you can, load each piece into a metal box that you seal up, and chuck the boxes into the ocean, as widely separated as possible. The ghost's energy gradually flows out through the conductive metal into the salt water. He speculated that spiky metal rods on the inside of the box might speed the process to the extent that it could occur on land. The big points are break it up, seal in a metal box, separate the boxes. He speculated that you didn't even have to box up the whole ghost. He thought if you got like three quarters of it, the remaining fourth would dwindle away, even if it was free, providing you could isolate it from good sources of energy from which it could recharge. That might be difficult at Hogwarts, but if we do it inside a vacant Slytherin, with just a few of us and while Hagrid is away, it could work."

As I was about to congratulate Hermione, I realized that Nearly Headless Nick had naturally been interested and eavesdropped on us. I congratulated Hermione anyway, even if it made Nick think less of all of us. I asked her "how can we be sure we have the right approach? We'll likely only get one chance."

"It's obvious," Nick replied in Hermione's stead, "test it on Peeves."

As we left dinner, Professor McGonagall approached and said "a quick word, Harry." She guided Harry away from the rest of us, but not so far that the whisper link didn't work. "I hope you're satisfied with the arrangements that George and Luna worked out on behalf of all of you and that we can try to pull together over the coming weeks."

"I'm satisfied," Harry replied, "and I'm hoping we can damp down the tensions and all get along together over the coming weeks."

"In that case, I'm hoping you can help me with something. The safety of Draco and Pansy is weighing on both Narcissa's and my minds. I think you know where they are. Would you please tell me? It would make me feel much better."

"I'm not certain where they are, but I think I know. I think they're safe, at least for now. I can't tell you where they are, because I know for certain that Draco doesn't want his mother to know where they are. He's an adult now and he has a right to not let his mother know where he is. I admit, normally that would sound very cruel on his part, but given the shock that his parents have just hit him with, I think he deserves the chance to go off alone, or with Pansy, and think things through for himself. I'm sure Narcissa wants to explain her side of the story to him, but I'm equally sure that he isn't ready to hear it. He'll contact her when he wants to learn her side of the story."

"But she desperately wants to protect him."

"And he cringes at the thought of allowing her to protect him. This part he didn't explicitly say, but at the moment I'm sure he's wondering, is whether his mother really asked him to stay at Hogwarts to protect him, or whether it was to spite his father, or even so she could be close to you. That's what I would be thinking about, if I were in his place. He deserves time to think. He asked me to promise not to let his mother know where he went. I'm going to honor my promise."

"Thank you. I'll at least let Narcissa know that you are almost certain he is safe for now, and that he'll contact her when he's ready. Did he say he planned to see Lucius?"

"No, but I'm fairly sure that is what he plans to do. I can give you one other message if you promise not to tell Narcissa for several days."

"I promise, what is the message?"

"After several days she can get a written message to Draco by sending it to Millicent Bulstrode. I don't believe our new agreement requires me to tell you when I'm leaving Hogwarts on Ministry business. I'll say this time, since we are on a state of high alert with the Goblins, that I have to go into London to meet with a French envoy who is secretly in Britain. I'll be back before breakfast. Goodbye."

{{[disappointed surprise] How long are you going to be gone for?}}

{[soothing] Not much more than an hour. Don't worry.}

Next morning provided proof that the calming of the storm waves in our relationship with McGonagall was not going to be a smooth, continuous lessening of tension. We were eating our breakfast and chatting happily away, laughing at the newspaper headlines, when McGonagall appeared behind Harry.

"I know that I agreed not to interfere in your activities, but as Headmaster, I cannot permit you to murder Peeves. He is a Hogwarts tradition and the students mainly like him. I understand that you proposed to test the ghost-killing approach that Hermione dreamed up on poor Peeves."

"Well," Harry responded perhaps a trifle frostily, "you are not currently headmaster, nor are you my head of house, so this isn't even an issue that you should be raising with me. If you honestly think that I am planning to destroy Peeves, then you should take your concerns to Headmaster Longbottom or our head of house, since this has nothing to do with your course, which I attend. Although the Ministry agreed not to unduly interfere in the management of Hogwarts, I feel obliged to tell you that you need to step up the quality of your spies. I did not propose that we test Hermione's approach, which is actually Flamel's approach, on Peeves. If you had spies who were better at their jobs, then you would know that the proposal to experiment on Peeves was made by Nick and was, I'm sure, largely in jest. You'd also know that none of us expressed agreement with the suggestion or planned to follow it. As you know the Minister has several days to reach a final decision on the question of whether you resume your post of headmaster. He would not be at all pleased to hear that you are continuing to act as headmaster and identifying yourself as such during your temporary suspension."

Having said that, Harry got up and walked back to the Common Room, leaving McGonagall standing there with her mouth open and the rest of us struggling to avoid cracking a smile. After a few frozen seconds, Professor McGonagall walked back to the staff table, where Neville was shaking his head.

We had Mr. Granger's Muggle Studies class after breakfast. We were advancing rapidly through the uses of electricity, having covered light bulbs, resistance heaters, buzzers, and today the intricate innards of alternating current electrical motors. I enjoyed taking apart my little motor and identifying the shaft, rotor, bearings, coils of wire, and permanent magnets. We lingered after class to see if Mr. Granger could build the metal boxes that would serve as our little ghost tombs. Hermione showed him a drawing that she had made from Flamel's notes and explained the use. We were told that we would have four boxes within a week, and that Mr. Granger had a thought on collecting ghost pieces that he wanted to develop for us.

We were smiling when we left the shop and even maintained a reasonably good mood through McGonagall's' Advanced Wizard history class. We took our customary front row seats, to the confusion of the students who had sat there for the last class. Professor McGonagall volunteered that she had been remiss during her last lecture in not crediting Hermione for conducting the primary research that was the basis for much of that lecture. Hermione looked pleased and volunteered answers to a number of questions. As the class ended, Professor McGonagall drew Harry to the corner of the room, behind her desk. I slipped on my assistant keeper ring. Even though I couldn't linger closer than thirty feet from Harry, I was able to follow the conversation. I had to shush Ron, who looked confused, and Hermione who understood.

"I know I jumped to a conclusion this morning and unjustly accused you of planning to murder Peeves. We are both going to have to work at reducing tensions. I guess I haven't learned yet to give you the benefit of the doubt. I apologize. I know I am not currently your headmaster. I spoke and acted out of habit."

"I accept your apology. There was a good side and a bad side to this. The good side was that you should be able to see that this is an example of a disagreement between us which can't possibly have anything to do with Ginny. The bad part is that you chose a venue to slap me down publicly in front of the other Gryffindors. That was a gesture to take back control of me. The other good thing is that you recognized that what you did was wrong and apologized. The bad thing is that even though you apologized, everybody else still knows that you slapped me down. I returned the favor, which you should expect me to continue to do in similar circumstances. We will have to keep working at this, to make this work. You say you need for me to stay at Hogwarts, but you are doing nothing to convince me that I will be able to stand living here. You certainly haven't lived up to our agreement. If this is how you behave while Neville is still in nominal charge, what am I to expect with you back in full control. You either trust me or you don't. You either abide by your word or you don't. I have stood by all of the agreements I have ever made with you. If the reason that you want me to stay is that you think that will give you the opportunity to restore your ability to control me, then it would be in everyone's best interest if we simply left before you resume your duties as headmaster."

"I'm beginning to see why you got so many detentions from Snape, but I also do realize that I need to hold my thoughts until an appropriate time. I'm on edge enough that I need to say something immediately when something has upset or concerned me. I didn't deliberately choose the setting to make you look bad. I really do know that I cannot control the Deputy Minister by keeping him at Hogwarts as a student. I also know that I require your support here and at the Ministry. I have many old and new enemies there. Please try to be my friend again."

"Okay."

Harry joined us and we headed off to lunch.

{{I forgot to ask. Which French Wizard did you run off to see last night?}}

{[chuckle] I mainly went off to Grimmauld Place to warn Draco that I mentioned the Millicent letter drop to McGonagall and made her promise to wait to tell Narcissa. A little honesty test that I set for Professor McGonagall. I suggested it would be wiser of him to visit the grandfather at his house and ask him to contact Millicent. I suggested he do it first thing in the morning. I was sort of afraid I'd startle them and one of them would come after me with a wand, even though I had Bill and Barb with me. It's sort of humorous - I found them in the parlor with no wands, in fact nothing at all. I guess we needn't worry that being mad at Narcissa means rejection of her choice of girlfriend. I guess I should have knocked on the door and waited, but three was a crowd inside the invisibility zone at the front door. I just apparated into the front hall and called for Draco and they both rushed out full Monty. I give them credit, they both seemed totally nonchalant about it and the aurors pretended they hadn't seen a thing. Actually, it was kind of dark to see much.

"Then I ducked out to that mansion where we had dinner with Minister Shacklebolt to say hello to Monsieur Delacour and get the latest news of Paris. The French Wizards are coping. The Ministry and Beauxbatons still have minimal magical protections. Beauxbatons is shipping us their artifacts for safekeeping. They will be given into the keeping of the Ministry, but may reside at Hogwarts.}

We dawdled on the way to lunch, but it was still astonishing that by the time we got there, the Headmaster had set up a separate little table for herself, Harry, and Neville to have a private chat. We were too far away for me to link in with Harry. I don't know if McGonagall suspected my link with Harry, but she had managed to position Harry fifty feet from me. I suspected she had erected some sort of magical protections as well. It didn't bother me. Harry would tell me about their conversation later and in the meantime, I had fun speculating about it with the others. We all noticed that after the encounter over breakfast, the other Gryffindors were eyeing McGonagall's table as closely as we were. The whole school was.

Walking back to the dorm, I asked Harry what happened. "McGonagall was upset that I wasn't doing enough to move us back toward peace. I reminded her that every breach was initiated by her, not me, going back to the fight with Draco, to her comments about 'it's Ginny', to breakfast. If she wanted peace, she'd have to behave better. Neville smiled and told her 'Harry's right'. She thought about it, apologized again, commented that my attitude still bothered her, and promised to try harder. I responded that I was the Deputy Minister of Magic and had to relate to her as an equal and that she was having great difficulty with that. I told her that I couldn't force her to live up to her side of the agreement, but I could demonstrate that I had teeth and would bite back. Neville again smiled and said 'again, Harry is right. You want Harry to stay and he is staying, but you can't expect him to forget his position and treat you with the deference shown by the average second year'. She thought about that some more and agreed that Neville was correct and that she should be willing to follow through in the letter and spirit of the agreements she made. The rest of the meal was pleasant chit chat."

{[unworried] I think she is on to our whisper communication trick, though. I don't know if Molly told her or she figured it out for herself, but she definitely made a point of cutting you out of the loop. Do you think you can be friendly with her again?}

{{[defiant] I'll be fine Harry. Perhaps not exactly friendly for now, but I'll try very hard to be polite and not cause another fight. Neville convinced me that it's important to make peace and that I should be calming you, rather than rousing you to battle McGonagall. I'll be fine, but friendly is a lot to ask.}}

{[relieved] I'll happily accept that. I know that friendly is too much to ask for. It's too much for me at the moment, as well. Polite, staying out of each other's way, and trying to avoid a new conflict is the best anyone can expect from us.}

While the rest of the group headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room 'to figure out how to cut up a ghost and put the pieces into boxes', Harry and I went to his office to perform some constituency service.

Our last class of the day was Professor Firenze for Advanced Divination. He wandered off topic into a fairly detailed description of the mathematical equations involved with tracking the celestial changes, saying he felt close to a breakthrough. His whale pod had been working away at the problem for close to a month and was very close to a solution.

He closed class by telling us that he had to skip our next lesson as well as the night's astronomical observations. He said that at times like this, he needed to force the prophetic part of his brain into action. To do so, he had to enter a trance state, from which he could not be disturbed for two days. He planned to begin right after class. "We are approaching a very critical moment in history," he ominously warned us, as he dismissed us for a week. He drew Harry and me aside as the class filed out, some of the younger girls showing dissatisfaction at the added attention we were receiving. When they had moved out of earshot, Firenze told us, "I must go to the very center of the Crystal Circle in the Sacred Cavern. I won't eat or drink or do anything but deep trance while I am there. If the Goblins object, I ask that you intercede for me."

"Harry promised that he would do so."

**Original text**

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	82. Chapter 82

**Chapter Eighty-Two – Do We Have An Agreement?**

The next day, Harry planned to share a quick breakfast with us and then off to the Ministry for an extended work session with Percy. Harry said that Percy was ready to brief him on what Ellie had learned about our prophecies. I was certainly eager to have the answers to the questions which Harry had posed. I strongly suggested that I might come to the Ministry with Harry. Harry said that this was only fair, since most of the prophecies concerned me more than him. He suggested that the four of us meet with Percy.

"I'd take Neville as well, but he's still got his headmaster duties."

McGonagall had other ideas and enlisted Neville to approach us. We saw McGonagall whispering to him at the head table, then he whispered a few words back to her, picked up his tea and walked over to us.

"I'm anxious to stop being temporary Headmaster and Professor McGonagall wants her job back. Since the meeting with George and Luna went well, can we all get together and finalize the deal? If you carry a favorable report back to the Ministry, Professor McGonagall can have her job back by this evening and I can go back to being a junior professor of herbology. It would really be a great favor to me, I feel that I've become something of a joke, going from student, to very young professor qualified by special exemption, to super young temporary headmaster all in the space of four months. It's really not how one hopes to start one's career."

"We were about to leave for the Ministry, but I can certainly spare an hour. Shall we meet in your office. I have to tell you that I have a bit of a problem with McGonagall taking her job back right now. She hasn't stuck to our agreement. She accosted me about Peeves in front of all the Gryffindors. She even identified herself as headmaster, when she isn't. I really don't see signs of change. The meeting with George and Luna did go well, but then it was right back to the same, old-same-old. It's kind of insulting to both of us."

"I hear you. For me… can you just keep an open mind and meet with her?"

We all trooped off for a final meeting with Neville in the big chair. Even Mom stepped down from the head table and joined the parade up the stairs to the Headmaster's office. McGonagall seemed a little surprised to see that Neville had claimed the seat, but dragged a chair around the table to sit to Neville's right. She began the meeting as if Neville was an inanimate decoration, which had strangely shifted her seating spot.

"I believe that George and Luna worked everything out to our mutual satisfaction yesterday," McGonagall announced to the room at large. "I'll recapitulate the agreement and they can correct me if I err on any of the details. If all is satisfactory, I'd like Harry to tell the Minister that things are settled, so that I can get on with addressing the considerable backlog of issues, which have piled up in my absence… umm, no offense to Neville who has done an admirable job of holding the fort, but he could hardly be expected to pick up my unfinished projects."

"Go ahead," Harry encouraged her.

Professor McGonagall pulled out a piece of parchment and sort of read from it.

"Good, now as I understand it, I have agreed to treat Harry as the esteemed Deputy Minister, which he is, and to not interfere with his aurors' duties in protecting him and the Minister's children. I acknowledge that Kingsley will have a role in determining the assignments and rules by which his aurors operate and that if I have any concerns about the conduct of the aurors that I will address them to Harry or Kingsley."

"Whoa!" Harry stopped her. "Kingsley won't have a role in determining his aurors' duties. That is his sole responsibility. You have no role in that and I may only suggest."

"I'm sorry, I guess I misspoke… Harry will respect my authority as Headmaster of Hogwarts. I renounce any additional authority or privilege as the successor head of the Order of the Phoenix, which we all agree to disband. I will allow greater latitude to the eighth years, with regard to following Hogwarts rules and public displays of affection, but will expect them to set a good example for the younger students. I will treat Ginny as I treat the eighth years and will delegate responsibility for monitoring her conduct and discipline to Molly. To the extent possible, I will also allow eighth year privileges to Luna. Cissy and Margaret will follow normal Hogwarts rules and they will not be involved in your adventures without my permission. Cissy will be allowed to enter the Forbidden Forest, her castle, and the Reception Hall as needed for her official duties, but will first inform me of her absence. The rest of you will, except in emergencies, notify me prior to leaving Hogwarts. Harry and Arthur will alert me to Ministry actions which may affect this school and I shall do the same for anything at Hogwarts which may affect the Ministry. We will consult with each other, as needed. I will serve as Headmaster until the end of term, at which time I or another professor will be selected to serve a six-year term. Did I miss anything?"

"Well, we can't agree that you will serve as headmaster until the end of term. That is the decision of the Ministry and the Hogwarts Governors. Headmasters may be suspended for cause at any time, subject to the approval of the Governors or the Wizengamot. Also, as I understand it, the selection of the next headmaster need not be limited to current professors, but again that is a matter for the Minister and Governors, not for us," Harry told her.

"Other than that, I think that covers us," Harry agreed. "It does not cover our understanding regarding the Slytherins. I also have concern that you have yet to behave in accord with this agreement. You sarcastically refer to me as 'the esteemed Deputy Minister'. I know full well that I hold a largely powerless position, but it is important to the Minister that his Deputy not be seen to be led around by his nose, and that what delegated authority I have from him be shown a modicum of respect. Since that is important to the Minister, it must be important to me.

"You know what I'm referring to with the Peeves incident. I'm happy with the agreement as far as it goes, but think we need more of a cooling off period to make sure it actually works. I know that Neville wants you to resume your headmastership, so that he can get on with being a junior professor and stop being a very young temporary headmaster. I would have no problem with that, except for one thing. Professor Weasley and the Minister have made clear to me that when I approve of your return as headmaster, I am also agreeing that I and my friends will stay on as students with you as headmaster.

"I need to see some evidence of actual change, before I can commit to that. I neither want to put the Minister in a bad position, by agreeing a deal and then bailing out of Hogwarts two weeks later, or leave myself and my friends in a hellish situation for the rest of term. I hate to put it so boldly and starkly, but there it is."

"I fall into old habits in times of stress. I think that I have changed. I certainly know that I'm trying to change. As Draco and Pansy have left Hogwarts, I didn't feel the need to address them, but if you insist… I agree that if Draco and Pansy return to Hogwarts that you are not responsible for their safety, that they will not have access to Gryffindor, that I will not provide them with their own apartment, and that they will not be permitted to carry wands in your presence, unless permitted to do so by the Ministry. Are you happy with that?"

"I am," Harry agreed. The rest of us nodded our assent.

"Then I trust that you and Molly will carry word of this agreement to the Minister, Director Shacklebolt, and Director Bones."

"I will," Harry replied, "but I will also say that I am not yet ready to commit to remaining at Hogwarts. I really do think that you have to actually abide by the agreement for a period of time, before I can make that commitment. I'm fine with either you or Neville being headmaster during that period, but I'll make my position clear to the Minister."

"I'm not sure that Arthur will reinstate me with that sort of qualified recommendation from you. How long a period of time do you propose to test out the new agreement?"

"At least a week, no longer than two weeks."

"Okay, I can accept that. We both need to work hard to hold up our end of the deal. I have no problem with your making your recommendation to Arthur on that basis. We can leave it up to him whether he wants me to resume as headmaster immediately or wait out the trial period."

Molly volunteered to travel to the Ministry with Harry. Harry took the parchment from McGonagall, telling her that Dad might want to review it. Harry quickly read through the document commenting "you actually did write 'esteemed Deputy Minister' and the stuff about guaranteeing yourself the job until the end of the year. You'll need to clean that up and add the part about Draco and Pansy. Also, I don't see the part where you referred to treating Luna as an eighth year."

He handed the document back to McGonagall and she promised to correct it. Harry said he'd talk to Dad tomorrow, when he had a corrected agreement to show him and that meanwhile we needed to make a quick visit to the Ministry to visit Percy.

Percy had Ellie with him, adding fuel to my belief that there was something going on between them. When I whispered this musing to Harry, his reaction was unusually harsh, as if he thought this related to my very occasional fits of jealousy.

{[annoyed] You should know that it actually is possible for single young Witches and Wizards to work together, without there being something going on between them. That is just the sort of attitude that prevents most young Witches at the Ministry from advancing as far as their abilities would otherwise permit. I'm trying to change that.}

It wasn't as if I thought there would be anything wrong if there was something going on between Percy and Ellie. Afterall, Percy didn't have a girlfriend and it was past time for him to find one. Perhaps I couldn't control my whisper-tone as well as Harry could and what I had meant as a tone of funny amusement had come across as disapproval of a scheming Witch.

I hastened to try to catch up with what Ellie was reporting to Harry.

"… Professor McGonagall. I just provide an empty globe, wait for it to be filled with the memory, and then log it into the system. I add the protective charms to the globe at that time. Those charms are linked to the wand or wands of the person or persons to whom the prophecy applies and the person who reported the prophecy."

"How can you link the charm to the wand of a person who isn't standing before you with their wand?" Harry asked.

"The Ministry has a record of every wand owner from Mr. Ollivander and a record of almost every Witch's and Wizard's aura from when the trace is applied shortly after birth. Those records are kept by the curator and me."

Ellie was a much more powerful young Witch than I had realized. She controlled a lot of vital knowledge.

"If I may derail your report one more time… if you just supply an empty globe to the person reporting a vision, how can you be sure that the vision is real?"

"I can't, of course, which is why the whole process is a little silly. I'm sure some people just confuse a dream for a vision and others like to bring in visions so that they feel important. Before your group fought the Death Eaters in our vision room, we had ten-thousand, seven-hundred, and thirty stored visions, going back over three hundred years. We now have a little over five thousand. I doubt there could be that many valid visions."

"The vision of me and Voldemort – it might have been about me, but it certainly was about him. I've always wondered why he needed to lure me to the Ministry to retrieve it rather than simply retrieving it himself."

"Because, the vision room maintains a record of all who enter it. That is supposed to be only me, the curator, and certain high Ministry officials. Normally a person comes to me and asks if there are any visions relating to themselves, I check my records, and fetch any appropriate visions for the requester. The vision room is supposed to be nearly impregnable. You got in, because someone disabled most of the defenses – basically left the door unlocked. Curator and I were questioned, but not as seriously as I would have expected. In any case, since Voldemort wanted to keep his return a secret, he didn't dare set foot inside the vision room."

"Could Neville have retrieved that vision?"

"No, it was logged in to just you and Voldemort. That was the choice of the person who registered it – Headmaster Dumbledore. Nobody other than the persons to whom the globe is coded can read what is in it. If any another Wizard tried to use strong magic to force the vision from the globe, then the vision would be destroyed. Even curator and I cannot access a vision."

"We keep being told that we are unique, because there are so many prophecies about us…"

"Not at all. You certainly have more prophecies than most Witches and Wizards, but not nearly the most. Emily Wemple has logged over two dozen visions she has had, regarding her two grand-daughters. Both of the Spencer parents have logged at least a half dozen visions relating to their twins. As I say, the average Wizard can't tell a vision from an exciting dream and for many, having a vision becomes a vanity thing. That's why we have thousands of vision globes stored here."

"I've been told that most valid visions occur to Centaurs or Unicorns. Have they logged many visions with you?"

"None while I've been here and none I've ever come across in the files. I don't think they approve of the way we store visions. Bane views us as a joke."

I checked and there were no visions for us that we weren't already aware of. I did ask to see the first vision that McGonagall had told us about. It was sort of neat, but it was really just McGonagall's memory of Professor Trelawney speaking it, with the same error as when it was first revealed to us. It was not some super official version from the Beyond. I felt a little disappointed. Harry sensed my disappointment and whispered me.

{[calm] It is more than a little anti-climactic, isn't it. I'm sure if Voldemort realized that this is all it was, he wouldn't have bothered luring me to the Ministry at all. Vanity visions – that certainly takes all of the magic out of it, doesn't it?"

We ran into Dad as we were leaving. He asked Harry "I understand that you have a message for me?"

"Not today, probably tomorrow. Things are not yet as resolved as I'm sure you were led to believe."

"Yes, I did have a floo note from your former headmaster saying that you and she had come to an agreement and resolved your differences."

I snorted. Dad responded "that bad, is it?"

"Not really," Harry answered. "I think she means well, she just can't stop doing her annoying manipulations. It'll work out. I'd have happily gone with a verbal agreement, but since she had written it down, I insisted that she correct the errors and omissions, before I spoke to you. Somehow, I just didn't trust having an inaccurate written account of what I had agreed to floating around to be pulled out at an inopportune time. I also told her that I wanted to see a week or two of changed behavior, before I agreed to stay on at Hogwarts, although I really don't care who is headmaster during that time. Neville wants to give up the job. I think he fears at his age it makes him look silly, although he really has done a good job."

"I'll consider whether or not I want McGonagall as headmaster during your trial period. Really, I shouldn't even be thinking about it with all of the problems with the Goblins. Nothing new on that front, by the way. Goblanze says there is no cause for worry, but I am worried."

We said goodbye to Dad and apparated back to Hogwarts.

The remainder of the school day was pleasant and uneventful. Neville made a point of being very visible around the school on what might be his final day as Headmaster. Several times I heard him remark about his 'final hours in office' as he thanked one person or another for helping him to survive his temporary Headmaster duties.

McGonagall presented Harry with a corrected parchment in mid-afternoon and Harry dutifully transported it to Dad.

Harry returned for dinner with the news that the Ministry had accepted the deal and reinstated McGonagall as Headmaster. He stopped at the Gryffindor table to inform us, then walked up to Neville and then Professor McGonagall.

Her cat-smile split her face as she stood up at the head table to change seats with Neville. Nobody knew exactly how to react. The faculty gave a brief round of applause and the student body more or less echoed this. Neville seemed almost as pleased as McGonagall with his change in status.


	83. Chapter 83

**Chapter Eighty-Three – Save The Whales!**

I awoke that night in a panic, not realizing the cause and thinking perhaps it was Cissy's boyfriend making another appearance. Then, one thought filled my mind. The whales were in trouble! I woke Hermione, Luna, and Cissy and headed to the boys dorm to wake the others. I shook Harry awake, but Neville came to his senses first, asking "what are you doing here in the middle of the night, Ginny, and what did you say to the Headmaster yesterday?"

I shouted that we needed to save the whales. As the boys and I came down the stairs to the common room, I saw that all of the girls already had their brooms. "I'm not sure it's a good idea for Hermione and Cissy to come with us," Harry warned. "If they get into trouble, we won't have Firenze to carry them."

"We're going with you," Hermione said. "Everyone make sure you have your rings on your fingers."

Harry thought for a moment and then announced, "Hermione can come with us. Cissy must stay. She is too young, can't ride her broom well enough, and bringing her will cause another huge fight with the headmaster. We just made an agreement. Cissy can let the headmaster know where we've gone.

We rode our brooms to the apparation pocket, held hands, and found ourselves staring down at the northern Pacific Ocean, fortunately during daytime. We were lucky to all be flying upright as we emerged from the apparation hole. I had focused on keeping our circle level. Our rings gave us the reception we needed to immediately locate the whale pod and fly off in that direction. We could see a large whaling boat ahead of us, several miles away.

"I think confundus spells are in order," Harry said as we swooped down towards our target. The ship seemed to be locked onto the pod, moving in for a kill. I couldn't understand how the Muggles could hunt another intelligent life form. Perhaps this was an explanation for those, like the Death Eaters, who felt we couldn't safely live with them and must try to dominate them as a last resort. Except it was an impossible last resort.

Anyway, we were getting close enough to see individual Muggles on the outside of the ship. We shared pointing signals, as we each selected a target. Harry shouted an in-flight change of plan "I think 'petrificus' is in order. After that we'll come back and land to do the 'confundus'. A 'confundus' is too complicated to do on the fly." That's what we did and it was very reassuring to see all the Muggles falling to the deck as we swooped past. Harry had spotted Muggles behind a window in a control room high up on the boat and said we had to attack them, before we could land. We all followed him in attacking the window. We swooped in and hovered, firing curses at the Muggles, who quickly fell down.

"I think we need to get inside," Harry said as he cast a spell that shattered the window. "The rest of you confund the Muggles on the outside of the boat. Ginny, Bill and I will handle these three".

"What shall we cause them to believe?" Hermione asked. "We should make sure they wake up with consistent memories."

"I'm not really sure," Harry replied. "I haven't had time to think about that. I guess that they never saw us, that there are no whales here, and that they have to return home quickly, for some reason, perhaps to see their Mommies. Maybe they should develop an affection for whales and a loathing for harming them. They should feel in a great hurry to get back home and quit their awful job. Make them think a big wave made them all fall down."

Hermione gave a dissatisfied look, saying "let's leave their mommies out of it, but otherwise, okay."

We all quickly went about our business. Harry asked me to guard a stairway that led into the room we had entered while he and Bill confunded the three Muggles. It took him about five tense minutes to complete the job, with Bill handling two Muggles to his one, but fortunately nobody tried to come up the stairs. We flew back outside, past the missing window, to rejoin the others, who had finished their work and were waiting for us. Harry then had a very good idea. "We're moving slower than if we were flying. We should disapparate from right here."

"Just in case the confunding didn't work, we should destroy the harpoon gun, so they can't harm the whales."

"We could use Witch sculpture to turn it into a statue of a whale," I suggested.

"Very appropriate, but that would lead to a big investigation. I think we should just turn it into junk that was tossed into the ocean." That's what we did.

We joined hands and disapparated, finding ourselves flying lazily just outside the Hogwarts gate. Hermione still found herself flying upside down. The dark sky created extra confusion, which caused her a moment of panic. Harry, Bill, and I came to her rescue and managed to get her righted and sufficiently calmed to land by herself. She really handled herself far better than she had during the return from our first adventure over the Pacific Ocean.

Fortunately, Harry had insisted on getting a key from Neville the other day and taken it with us, so we were able to open the gate and let ourselves in. Unfortunately, this triggered a tamper spell, and a very excited McGonagall with a half dozen faculty and seventh years challenged us as we walked back to the castle.

"We could have killed you in the dark," she admonished Harry. "That's why it's important to let me know in advance of your comings and goings at night. It's a matter of security."

"As you know, normally I would tell you," Harry replied, "but we had to save the whales, without a moment to spare. We got the job done just in time. Professor Firenze's tied up and couldn't make the trip himself, so we were on call to stop a whaling ship. Anyhow, I asked Cissy to tell you where we'd gone."

"Save the whales, indeed, Mr. Potter!"

"It's the truth. Whales are highly intelligent and that particular pod is used by Professor Firenze as his mathematical calculating engine to determine the celestial orbits. By the way, isn't it odd that an official Hogwarts key would trigger a tamper alarm?"

"Stepped up security, all of the keys do that now. I would have mentioned that to you, had I been aware you had a key. I'll be sure to talk to Firenze, tomorrow".

"Um, sorry," Neville told her, "I gave Harry one, while I was headmaster."

"Very well, Professor Longbottom. Are there any other legacies of your brief term as headmaster, of which I should be aware?"

We headed back to Gryffindor, with a fantasy of McGonagall's futile search for Firenze dancing across my brain.

It was a little after 5:00 A.M. when we entered our Common Room. It was an awkward time to try to return to sleep. We were revved with adrenaline from rescuing the whales and then Hermione who was flying upside down and headed for a nighttime crash. We chose to brew some tea and sit around the common room, discussing the status of our various projects.

We definitely had to see Professor Firenze, both to report on the whales and to find out if he had gained any insight while in his trance. Learning how the Goblins had reacted to his presence would also give some good insights into the current Goblin political situation. We were still days away from testing our metal boxes on the ghost, but lacked a plan to cut it into pieces and immobilize it enough to be captured. Hermione had found nothing in the Flamel notes that even hinted how that part of the experiment had been accomplished. It was possible that the germane portion of Flamel's notes would be arriving in a day or so, along with the rest of the Beauxbatons artifacts. It was possible that there was nothing better than the curses we had used in the Slytherin common room, which would have left us chasing up the stairs after two or three large pieces of ghost. What we needed were half a dozen immobilized or slow moving pieces.

Neither we nor the Ministry were any closer to finding Thicknesse or Barty Crouch. Both the aurors and the Muggle police had conducted an extensive search in and around Cardiff, but found no sign of the missing Death Eaters. Our dinner date with Dad and Shacklebolt tomorrow evening struck Harry as a good opportunity to also visit King Goblanze and get his latest views on Ruppasta's strength and likely next moves. It was dawn when Mom entered the room through the fat lady portal.

"I see you're all up already. I had planned to wait here and catch you before breakfast. Professor McGonagall is in a right state. Apparently Professor Trelawney went away last night. She said she needed time to think, and needed to give Narcissa and the Headmaster a chance to think things out in her absence. She apparently took her mother's crystal ball and intends to spend several days at the old shack, communing with the spirit of her mother and determining whether or not she is able to produce a vision in the crystal ball. She promised that whatever she decides, she will return to discuss things with the headmaster and work out arrangements for the remainder of the term.

"Narcissa has now decided that she is in the way at Hogwarts and is considering leaving, but won't do so until she has a chance to contact Draco. She said that despite what Professor Trelawney might think, she and the headmaster had nothing to work out.

"McGonagall blames herself, rather than your circle, for all of that, but she is also testy because she doesn't believe Harry's whale rescue explanation. I gather she doesn't have a very high opinion of the intellectual capacity of whales and thought 'mathematical calculating engine' was a bit of piffle that Harry picked up from Muggle television when he was a youngster. She was bouncing back and forth between her theory that you just went off on a nighttime lark on your brooms to taunt her and her opposing theory that you were all involved in a Ministry mission that nobody will tell her about. She even sent off what I felt was a rather curt note to Arthur and Kingsley, asking that they kindly inform her in future if they planned to involve six of her students in a dangerous clandestine operation. Arthur must think she's gone half mad."

"It was a true story," I assured Mom. "Firenze recruited us as his assistants for times like this when he can't help the whales himself. We did a test flight with Firenze over a week ago. I don't suppose McGonagall's mood is going to get any better when she is unable to find Firenze today or tomorrow. He's in a trance in the Sacred Cavern, trying to generate a prophetic vision of what comes next. And we did leave Cissy with instructions to tell McGonagall where we'd gone."

"She obviously said nothing to the headmaster. Where is that girl, anyway. You should find Cissy and sort this out. Well, I'll leave you alone. I just wanted to warn you not to do anything to set the Headmaster off today."

"I can honestly say that our plan of late has been to cool things off,' Harry replied. I know she's not happy about our unannounced departure and arrival last night, but I assumed that Cissy had told her. I guess it was silly to assume that Cissy could find the Headmaster at night. She's never been to her apartment. She could have just alerted the night duty staff, who would have found McGonagall, but perhaps she didn't think of that. You also know that our agreement allowed us to leave Hogwarts without telling her, but that we normally do tell her. Last night truly was an emergency, with no time to tell her and no way she could have helped our mission."

"Her position is that you had that option, but Ginny did not. I'm actually supposed to tell Ginny that she may not leave Hogwarts without my permission. I guess an emergency can be an exception, but Ginny is a normal student and students can't just leave when they feel like it."

"So… I guess it is always going to keep coming back to Ginny, isn't it? And Ginny is not a normal student. Our agreement says that she and Luna are to be treated as eighth years. Even under quite innocent circumstances, it's always about Ginny. Is it any wonder that Ginny wants to leave Hogwarts? You were there when McGonagall recited the deal. We were barred from taking Cissy or Margaret on our adventures, but Ginny and Luna were allowed. I specifically left Cissy behind, because of the agreement. Well, she also is really young and can't apparate yet. Since McGonagall read the agreement to us, perhaps you could very politely request that she consult her parchment."

"Oh, I'm not quite that brave yet, Harry."

We studiously avoided the Headmaster at breakfast, but couldn't help but notice that she looked as though she had been weeping, and that neither Mrs. Malfoy nor Professor Trelawney was in evidence. We ate quickly, grabbed our papers and left.

We didn't have Wizard History, so we managed to avoid McGonagall until she again sought us out at lunch. I was surprised to see Mrs. Malfoy was with her. She stood across the table from us and asked, "I don't want to get into another argument, but we need to talk to Harry and Ginny, briefly."

We followed them out of the Great Hall to the benches in the corner of the Entry Hall. "We need help finding some people. I've looked for Professor Firenze all morning and can't find him."

"He's in the Sacred Cavern and likely to be there until tomorrow night," I told her.

"He should have told me first." McGonagall replied.

"That's not our issue," Harry responded. "He told his students that he'll be missing the next class. He is on official Centaur business. Bane is with him."

"Narcissa went to see Miss Bulstrode today, but she had no idea how to find Draco."

"You promised not to tell Narcissa that for several days," Harry reminded her. "I thought something like this might happen, so I warned Draco not to go near Millicent, himself. Pansy made contact with Millicent's grandfather, who should be talking to her soon."

"I know that I promised you, but Narcissa is frantic to find Draco. She has a right to talk to him."

"He explicitly told me that he didn't want to see her now, made me promise not to reveal his location, and said he would contact Narcissa, when he is ready. I have to respect his wishes. He's an adult. I don't make promises lightly, only to break them when the adult's mother asks me."

"I'm just so worried he's in danger," Narcissa pleaded.

"I told the Headmaster to tell you that as far as I can determine, he is quite safe for now. I think if you go looking for him, you'll make him less safe. You need to give him time to work things out. He's had a shock and he's angry. If you send a message to Millicent this afternoon, I think Draco will get it in about a day. If you stop to think about it clearly, you'll be in more danger outside Hogwarts than Draco is in."

"I know I'm being very emotional and driving Minerva and you crazy, but I don't think I can wait three days to hear from Draco. I've written him a note. If you can find him, would you please deliver the note right away?"

"Okay, I'll try. If he has a response, I'll bring it right back to you. Wait for me in the Great Hall." Harry and his aurors headed off for the gate to apparate.

Harry had decided that in the meantime, Hermione, Ron, and I should go to the Reception Hall to check on the Goblins and Professor Firenze. We went through the Gryffindor route toward the Reception Hall, when, remembering that we had apparated to and from the top of the pyramid, I decided to find out just how far beyond our common room we had to get, in order to apparate. It turned out to be not very far at all. Once the door to the common room was closed and we took a few steps beyond to make our first attempt, we were successful.

Bane and the King's assistant were talking together as we arrived. They were also the only beings in the Reception Hall whom I recognized. We decided to politely wait until they had finished their chat, despite other Goblins giving us looks, which I could only interpret as not welcoming. The assistant spotted us, his eyes drawn by the commotion among his fellow Goblins, and motioned us to join them.

"Everything is peaceful down here." Bane reported. "Firenze's desire to enter the Sacred Cavern caused a little consternation, but I convinced the Goblin King that a Centaur seer had a right to enter and that Firenze might well develop a helpful vision. His presence inside the Circle has the Goblins enough on edge that I felt I must stay here to protect him and our interests. King Goblanze was here a little over an hour ago and reported little change in France or Germany and calm at Gringotts. He has determined that three of the five Goblins whom he detained the other day were plotting on Ruppasta's behalf. They spilled the beans on three other plotters. I think the King has the local situation well in hand. That's all that I can tell you. Unless you have any questions, it would be best if you left."

I thanked Bane and asked him to request that Firenze contact Harry as soon as practicable. We apparated back to the other side of the Gryffindor door and I asked Hermione if we could attempt to apparate off the grounds of Hogwarts.

"I know what you're thinking," Hermione replied. "This could be the secret apparation site that Harry wants, and it certainly couldn't possibly be any more convenient. I agree that we should test it, but be very careful – feel for resistance when you try to disapparate, and don't push hard against resistance. You wouldn't want to find out that the pyramid is solid rock by apparating into the center of it."

I promised to be extra cautious and not to try to apparate farther than Hogsmeade. I made a very deliberate feel into the void in the direction of the Honeydukes basement. I really didn't have to force things at all and quickly found myself standing in the basement. I waited just a minute, enough time to re-collect myself but not enough time for the others to worry about my extended absence, and then apparated back to the door.

"Very impressive," Hermione congratulated me. "Harry will be pleased. That does reveal a weakness in the Hogwarts defenses, however. We'll barricade the entrance into Gryffindor and see if Harry thinks we need to let Professor McGonagall in on the secret. On the one hand she should know, so that she can try to tune up the magical defenses; on the other hand, I wouldn't want her to close off this route."

When we reentered our common room, Harry was waiting for us. "I found Draco and Pansy at home and delivered the message. I apologized for my last visit and told them that Narcissa was crazy frantic and really desperate to see him to the point of doing something incredibly stupid. Draco read the note and gave me a very brief reply saying he was willing to talk to his mother tonight. He said it was alright to tell her where he was and that she should ask Kreacher to apparate her to the doorstep at precisely 6:00 P.M. I came back here to get opinions on how quickly you think I should relay this to Narcissa. I got the sense from Draco that it would not be at all a good thing were she to arrive early."

"I say tell her now and really stress the importance of waiting until 6:00," Hermione responded. There was a general nodding of heads. Hermione also told Harry what I had discovered and asked whether we should tell McGonagall. We were surprised when Bill answered before Harry could.

"It's a matter of the students' safety. You have to tell her and I have to tell Shacklebolt. Sorry, I'm sure that's what the Deputy Minister was about to say."

"Well, I was going to say that we should tell Arthur and Shacklebolt and ask them whether or not we should tell the Headmaster. I don't know how many secrets they're willing to share with her at the moment."

We all set off for the Great Hall, where we found Mom and the headmaster waiting with Narcissa. It was clear that both Mom and Professor McGonagall had been exerting great effort to keep Narcissa calm. Harry took a stride ahead of the rest of us and handed Draco's note to Narcissa. Narcissa brightened as soon as she saw Draco's note in Harry's hand. She read it quickly and was smiling.

"Thank you," she said to Harry. "Draco says he's still upset but willing to talk to me tonight. He says you'll tell me where to find him."

"I will," Harry replied, "but it is very important that you control yourself and not meet him until 6:00 P.M. as he has suggested. I got the very strong impression that it would be very bad if you arrived early. You're his mother - you're supposed to be the most adult. Just pull yourself together with the knowledge that he was perfectly safe half an hour ago and patiently wait until 6:00."

"I realize that Draco sees this as a test of my reasonableness, and I'll certainly wait."

"Okay, he and Pansy are staying at my house. Kreacher can take you there."

"Thank you, Harry," Professor McGonagall said. "I'm sorry to have pressed you so hard earlier."

When I told McGonagall about my successful apparation into Hogsmeade, she gave me a look that suggested she wanted to yell at me, but then changed course and was quite pleasant.

"Thank you for sharing your new-found secret with me. It is important, since it affects the safety of all the students. Barricading the entrances to the common rooms seems in order and I will see that this is done. In the spirit of cooperative sharing, let me say that I followed Molly's request and consulted my text of our agreement and it seems that your notification procedures are no different than that of the eighth years, so I apologize for the second-hand criticism that you received. I'm on edge today. I was really thinking of Molly. I just felt that she would share the same interest in what dangers her child may be facing as poor Narcissa does with Draco…"

A loud "Ahem!" from Mom had the Headmaster backtracking "I fear I've stuck my foot in it again. Please excuse that as a consequence of how upset I am by Trew's departure and my worry about Draco."

It was good to get a break from all the drama and have dinner with Dad. Mom and Director Shacklebolt went with us. "I know you've had a bad time these last few days and thought you'd enjoy going out to dinner, Ginny," Dad explained to me, "and don't worry, I wouldn't use Ministry funds, Kingsley, Harry, and I are paying for dinner."

I told Dad that it was a very nice thing to do and that it might indeed help to pull me out of my funk. Harry and I again ordered the chateaubriand for two and I enjoyed a delightful meal. Mom even allowed me a third sherry. After dinner, we went back to Dad's office for "a chat, to clear the air and perhaps suggest something useful to help everyone get turned around and looking at life more positively." It was with an air of expectancy that I joined the others in the chairs in Dad's office.

"Your mother brought Mrs. Granger to see me this morning and, after her introductory remarks, I decided to include Shacklebolt in the meeting. She said she didn't want to overstep her position, but that she thought her American introduction to psychology might allow her to shed some light upon the problems at Hogwarts, which she said it was impossible not to notice. She said that she was worried that all of you and Hogwarts were in a great deal of difficulty and that she wanted to help. She said that Professor Celine was also concerned about all of you and willing to help. She convinced me that we've been remiss in not dealing with the mental stresses caused by all of the terror and death and continued fighting and danger. She said she had heard such wonderful things from Hermione about Professor McGonagall and all of you, and felt something had gone seriously wrong.

"As we talked, Kingsley and I agreed with her that there has been too much danger for any of you to properly grieve for Fred and even for Dumbledore and Snape. You've continued the fight, but you've delayed the healing process by doing so, and after several months of everybody holding their feelings in and trying to keep fighting ahead, you're all ready to explode and snipe at each other over things you would have taken in stride in the past. Mrs. Granger said that the Muggles always provide extended psychological counseling services for individuals and schools which have undergone much less trauma than you and Hogwarts have.

"As we listened to Mrs. Granger, Kingsley and I realized that we needed to stop getting angrier at Minerva and instead that we had to do something to help her and the rest of you. You are all good and kind people who at the bottom of your hearts want to get along and work together for the common good. You are just too stressed to be able to pull that off at present. Molly filled in a lot of the gaps about what has been happening at Hogwarts and I'm convinced that it's time for me, as Minister, to call time out and send in some help. I haven't spoken to Minerva about this, but I have spoken to Dr. White and Dr. Sprout. They both think that Dr. White and Mrs. Granger can be of service, although they were skeptical about Professor Celine. None of you will be forced to participate in the counseling, but I strongly recommend that you take advantage of the service. If my children were younger, I would order them to participate, but I realize that I can't really do that.

"I'll just say this: I'm going to visit Minerva tomorrow morning and explain my decision to her. The good doctors will be at your school at noon. I hope that all of you will set a good example and be among the first to sign up for the service. I think it really can help you. The second thing that Molly and I decided is that we are going to hold a private, family service for Fred at Shell Cottage right after dinner tomorrow. I do expect all of you to be in attendance. Molly and I feel that the Memorial Service at Hogwarts just didn't provide sufficient closure. I know it didn't for me, and I doubt it did for you either.

"That ends the family business, and I do view all of you as family.

"On a business note, Harry, Dr. White told me that Lucius Malfoy is now largely conscious and will survive. He will be able to have visitors by mid-afternoon, tomorrow. You might want to pass that information along to Draco and inform him that special security arrangements can be made for him and Pansy. I think the counseling will also benefit Draco, so I'd appreciate it if you would encourage him to sign up. I understand he is the latest refugee whom Harry is sheltering at his hostel. Well, it's getting to be time for you to get back to school. I hope you all enjoyed dinner. I wasn't really expecting to have this chat when I invited you. Good bye and try to be happy."

When we apparated back to the pocket inside the Hogwarts gate, not having removed the barricade we had placed in front of the door from our common room to the secret pathways, we were met at the gate by the headmaster, herself. "I thought you might apparate outside the gate and thought someone should be here to meet you. I wanted to chat with you, before you went off to bed."

We actually chatted in the dark, leaning against the fence and sitting on the grass. "I wanted you all to know that the meeting between Narcissa and Draco went very well. Draco and Pansy have already returned to Hogwarts. They have moved into Hufflepuff. Narcissa and I are both very grateful for Harry's help in keeping Draco safe and in setting up this reunion.

'Professor Firenze has returned from his sabbatical and says he has a vision to share with you in the morning. I'm sorry that I doubted your story about saving the whales. My excuse is that it just struck me as so preposterous at the time, and that it was so unlike Professor Firenze to just go off without talking to me. Professor Firenze also believes that he left the Goblins in a calmer state than when he first arrived."

"I'm glad things have taken such a turn for the good," Mom told Professor McGonagall. "We had a very nice dinner and chat with Arthur and Kingsley. They have a suggestion which Arthur wants to share with you at lunch tomorrow. I think we should let the students get off to bed, while we can go to your office so that I can give you a heads up. I think Arthur really has a lot of insight into our recent problems. Arthur also wanted me to invite you to a family memorial service that we're having for Fred, tomorrow evening."

We headed off to Gryffindor and I, at least, fell asleep very quickly.

Break, break, break

The rewrite of Part II has six more chapters to go.

**Original text**

Contribute a better translation


	84. Chapter 84

**Chapter Eighty-Three – Firenze's Tale**

I was in a surprisingly good mood as we went down to breakfast and ate an amazingly hearty meal, considering how much I had consumed the night before. Draco and Pansy had gotten to breakfast almost as early as we had and made a point of sitting across from Harry, rather than at the Hufflepuff table.

"I understand that Professor McGonagall told you we were back and staying at Hufflepuff. I'm really sorry that I hit both of you and thankful that you let us stay at your house. I'm back not so much because I want to be back as because I agree with you that my mother is a complete wreck and that my coming back was the only thing that can keep her from totally falling apart. She lied to me, but she's still my mother. We had a good talk last night. I told her that I didn't really mind about her and McGonagall long ago, but the deception hurt. I would say my father was awful and just came to cause trouble the other night, but that may not really have been my father. My mother thinks he had our estate manager Imperius him to give him an alibi for what he wanted to do, but I'm not sure that's true. They make themselves crazy fighting over me, when I'm old enough to run my own life. Learning the truth about their marriage has convinced me that I'm going to marry Pansy, whatever my father thinks. We're getting married Sunday after this one at the church in Godrick's Hollow. You're all invited. This isn't to spite my father, or even to get to move out of the Hufflepuff dorm. I really love Pansy and I'm also hoping that when my parents realize that neither of them owns me, that they'll at least stop fighting."

"Congratulations, I'll certainly come to your wedding," Harry replied. "I have good news for you. Dr. White thinks your father will be able to have visitors by mid-afternoon. If you want to visit him, we should arrange extra security. The Death Eaters will be expecting you to visit at the earliest opportunity."

"I definitely want to visit him. If you would arrange for a few aurors to escort me at 4:00 P.M., that would be great. Now, we should go back and sit with the Hufflepuffs. If I had ever been asked to list the house I least wanted to belong to, it most certainly would have been Hufflepuff."

Although we and the Slytherins had spoken in friendly tones, I noticed the younger Gryffindors looked much more relaxed after Draco and Pansy moved to the Hufflepuff table.

Jimmy Peakes stopped by my place at the table looking a little embarrassed. "Hi, Ginny, I just wanted to let you know that you made the Quidditch team, but I don't suspect that is news to you. You're our Seeker and I'm really depending on you to do a great job, if we are going to have any chance of winning. Our last practice is tomorrow night and then we play Hufflepuff on Sunday afternoon. And I have a special favor to ask. I decided to add two spare Seekers to the team, as part of our allowed four backups. The little Wood boy isn't good enough to fill in if you got hurt, but he shows a lot of promise for future years and I think it will mean a lot to him. If you can give him some pointers at practice, I'd really appreciate it."

"Thanks Jimmy," I replied, unexpectedly cheered to have my presence on the team confirmed. It was never in doubt, yet nice to hear. "I'll be happy to work with Roger. We met him on the Express and he seems like a very nice kid."

I was more surprised when Professor Firenze cantered over to our table, stopping behind Harry and me. "I need to speak to you right now, grab something to finish eating and follow me to the forest. Bring Hermione, Ron, Cissy, and Neville with you." As he turned to trot away, Harry detoured to the staff table to request permission from Professor McGonagall to borrow Neville.

When we reached the safety of the forest, we were joined by Bane and four Unicorns. "This is serious business," Bane assured us, "but I'll let Firenze explain."

"I fell into a deep trance as I lay within the Circle, and I saw many things, most of them troubling. Everything comes to a head within the next month, I'm certain of it. I thought that was the case, based upon my celestial observations, but wanted to confirm my observations. I saw many deaths and the failing of magic in Britain, with students on brooms falling from the sky. I saw what you call Muggles, lost in Diagon Alley. I saw the Montaignes trying to enter the Sacred Chamber, with Ruppasta inside. I saw Harry bravely trying to reach the Cavern and King Goblanze threatened with death. I didn't see far enough to know whether you survive. I felt that the time will come very soon for Cissy to choose between her family and the survival of magical creatures. We must all be very brave. Through all the troubles I felt a hope that magic and the world existed in the end.

"I saw the Light Guardian, so either that is a good sign or it means that I will soon be dead. Don't think me selfish, but I think I saw myself alive, standing in the Circle with Elves and Goblins and a Unicorn, and I was relieved. I took that as a good sign and awoke smiling.

"I thank you all for saving my whales. They were at a critical stage in their calculations when they called out to you. Their calculations also point to a crisis this month and then a clearing of the blockage in the flow of time. I fear, Harry Potter, that some you know will not be alive at the end of this month. I wish that I could be clearer. I sense that you are in great danger, but that you must move forward. That's all that I can tell you. I must prepare for my lecture."

I don't know if it was a good sign or bad, but the Unicorns cried silver tears on us, before we were given our two word dismissal by Bane: "be brave."

Dad was at the staff table for lunch. While we were eating, he and the headmaster explained the counseling service that was available, with signups after lunch. He introduced Dr. White and Hermione's Mom, who each explained a part of how the program would operate, and how it could benefit the students. The headmaster, Neville, and Mom announced that they had already signed up for the counseling. They encouraged students who had lost friends or still felt unsettled by all the fighting to participate. To prime the pump, Harry, Ron, George, and I were at the front of the sign-up line and Draco, Margaret and Cissy joined us. My first session was scheduled for tomorrow, with Hermione's Mom. I was happy that she would be my counselor, since she had been a great help to Harry.

The final Quidditch practice went well, although Kevin Peakes, a third year student, brother to Jimmy, and our new Keeper, had a ragged practice. His selection for the starting team was the only choice where I differed from Jimmy. It had seemed to me that he had performed third best of the students who had tried out and was picked only because his brother was our Captain. I was disappointed that Jimmy hadn't included an alternate Keeper to practice with the team, leaving no choice but to keep playing his brother. I thought Margaret had actually performed best in keeper tryouts.

I felt that I was doing very well as Seeker and that Jimmy and Ritchie Coote were first-rate Beaters. Kitten Mitt and Demelza Robbins were very good Chasers, while newcomer Sigrid Bones showed promise. Our spare Chaser, Hannah Zabini, wasn't all that good. She was just a second year and showed the promise to develop into a starting Chaser in a couple of years. Using a spot on the team to train up a future Chaser for Slytherin struck me as less than useful. Perhaps McGonagall had told Jimmy that he must have one of the transplanted Slytherins on the team. Since the only Slytherin as old as third year, Mathilda Bulstrode, hadn't even tried out for the team, that seemed a truly stupid requirement. Margaret had done better in the Chaser tryout, even though her natural position was Keeper.

Young Wood definitely showed a lot of natural talent and was totally fearless on his broom. I couldn't say the same for my other alternate. Aloysius was a seventh year, so future promise wasn't of much consequence. He was a little better than Wood at present, but not enough that would matter. There really was no reason for him to be on the team, other than filling up a spot which could have been used for a reserve Keeper. I was a very supportive follower and spent a half hour working with Roger Wood, For a very shy boy, he was a daredevil on his broom, showing no fear at all to remove one hand from the stick, while stretching way out to reach for the snitch. His bravery and truly incredible eyesight - he could see the snitch before I did as we both looked in the same direction - augured well for his future as a Seeker. I was sorry for Margaret. There were several reserves, plus our starting Keeper, who were obviously not as good as she was.

Good supporter or not, when I returned to the Common Room, I most definitely told Margaret that she deserved to be on the team. She seemed skeptical and told me that I really didn't need to boost her ego. I said "I'm simply stating the truth. You aren't on the team because Jimmy wanted to protect his brother's position as keeper and because McGonagall was playing politics to spite me. You should be our Keeper and you were also the fourth best Chaser. Please try out again next year. Maybe the process will be fairer." So, perhaps speaking to Margaret wasn't the action of a perfect follower, but I couldn't let someone as good as her feel bad about herself, just because McGonagall was using Jimmy to spite me.

I spent the next day both looking forward to and fearing my counseling session, every time I had a free minute and my mind was able to pursue its own obsessions. I should have been focusing upon fears generated by Firenze's vision or the still unstable situation with the Goblins, but I was torn between the hope that Hermione's Mom would make me happier than I now was and fear that I might learn things about myself that I really didn't want to know.

The session with Mrs. Granger seemed to go well. She asked, "Everyone who's watched you and Harry together knows that he loves you. Why are you afraid that McGonagall can break you apart?"

I didn't have a reason that seemed valid, even to me. "I know for certain that Harry loves me, but I get worried when he seems distant and not affectionate enough or quick enough to take my side against McGonagall. I guess I just fear that she's trying so hard to break us up, that she just might succeed," I said, not quite realizing what I really meant, that I sometimes worried that I was not good enough for Harry.

She told me that I must avoid such self-doubts, and realize that Harry already had decided that I very much was good enough for him.

I told her that my final year at Hogwarts wasn't going at all well. I felt that McGonagall was constantly demeaning me, had denied me everything that I had looked forward to, and that I didn't feel connected to Hogwarts. I felt diminished. Even Quidditch didn't excite me. I felt not exactly sad, but joyless.

Mrs. Granger assured me that my feelings were a natural reaction to everything that happened in the last year. It would be remarkable if I did feel connected to Hogwarts or saw it as a safe or fair environment. "Professor Granger and I have tried to figure things out. We feel Hogwarts is the unhappiest place we've ever seen. Not that we're unhappy. Everything around us is new and exciting, but we find ourselves surrounded by sad people, who are just plodding along. My husband has been studying the headmaster's thinking and doesn't think she has anything personal against you. She is determined to demonstrate her independence from the Ministry and show that she would treat any returning Slytherins fairly. She bends over backward to leave absolutely no possibility that she grants any special favors to the Minister's daughter. She wants you to be as deferential as your mother is, because she sees that as putting her on a par with the Minister.

"What you say makes sense," I told Mrs. Granger, "but I'm not sure it makes a difference to me. I don't plan to be super deferential, and I don't care what her reason is for mistreating me."

"It makes all the difference. You've grown up at Hogwarts thinking of Headmaster McGonagall as a very wise, good person, with a duty to protect you. When she suddenly starts acting like she strongly dislikes you, it is natural for you to question, somewhere inside your mind, whether there is something the matter with you. If you can recognize that you are simply caught in the cross-fire between the Headmaster and your father and boyfriend, then you can truly accept that this is not your fault and there is no great flaw in your character and behavior. You can also feel better about taking the initiative in reducing the tension, without seeing it as an admission of guilt. Think of it as a kindness toward a Headmaster who is a profoundly sad woman.

"Things may get worse. Both your father and Harry are now less supportive of the Headmaster. That threatens her. She struggles between a desire to put things back to the positive place where they should be and the competing desire to lash out at your father and Harry by making your life miserable."

Mrs. Granger assured me that I was strong enough and accomplished enough that I should have no need to seek approval or awards from Professor McGonagall and, as a very intelligent adult, I should feel authorized to give awards to myself as I felt appropriate and to totally ignore Professor McGonagall's input when I felt it was wrong. It felt strange to be accepting such seditious advice from a second year, who was also the mother of my best friend. I smiled. I was in the mood for seditious advice.

The family memorial for Fred turned out to be a weepy affair, but a lot of friends and some whom I didn't view as friends showed up to provide support. We gathered on the lawn, near Dobby's grave and in front of large pictures of Fred and the Colin Creevey statue, and the plaque with Fred's name. Dad and George each said a few words, before they broke up and couldn't continue. Mom didn't even try; she was already super weepy. I cried on Harry's and George's shoulders, but Professor McGonagall also gave me a big hug. I wasn't sure that I wanted her to do that, but I hugged her back.

Professor Slughorn, the Delacours, and Viktor and Cho had come back to Britain for the memorial, and were all very supportive. Shacklebolt hugged me for a full minute and even hugged Percy.

When we returned to Hogwarts, I was completely wept out and ready for bed, but Draco was waiting for us, outside the fat lady. I was hoping Harry would ask Draco to come back in the morning, but he gave in to the look of need on Draco's face.

Ironically, Draco was standing in the exact position where he had waited to pick a fight with Harry and me. This time he just wanted to talk, asking Harry, "I know this probably isn't a good time, but can we talk for a few minutes?" Harry invited him into our Common Room and the three of us sat in front of the fireplace.

"I visited my father," Draco began, "and I don't really know what to make of the meeting. I told him that I knew he had been Imperiused, but that I had responded violently to the goading by his Imperiused self. He told me that while he was at Hogwarts he was worried that what he was compelled to egg me on to do would land me in Azkaban, but that since, I was still a free man, he was glad that I fought you. He said your crowd had been riding too high and that he was proud that I could be roused to stand up for the family honor, although he hadn't really felt all that insulted by what Ginny said to him. She was angry about things that he had deliberately done and he was happy that she had remembered them enough to stay angry. He didn't much like or respect her, and it was fine that she recognized this and was made to feel uncomfortable because of it.

"I invited him to our wedding next Sunday. He said he couldn't honestly give us his best wishes and didn't want to attend, but realized he couldn't stop me. When I told him that we were back at Hogwarts and staying at Hufflepuff, he said that he was obviously mistaken that my attacking you was an indication that his 'mission' had been successful, and that he must reconcile himself that mother and McGonagall would succeed in turning me into something far less than an adult Malfoy male should be. He said he had never imagined that a Malfoy ever would sink so low as to live in Hufflepuff. He made it quite clear that he wanted the visit to be over. He even said he'd be happy to see me again 'whenever I abandoned my mother's nonsense and began to think like a Malfoy again'. He said I could tell my mother that he meant it, when he said she had let herself go and that he was quite content for her to stay at Hogwarts and live with McGonagall.

"I guess I'm back to siding with my mother. It's hard to believe my father would refuse to come to my wedding."

Harry mainly listened and offered sympathetic words and looks. He agreed that Draco was best off forgetting his father at least for the moment and allowing Lucius to relent on his own, regarding the wedding. It did seem strange that after the intense, drawn out combat between Lucius and Narcissa, that Lucius would simply give up on Draco. Draco's story certainly made me feel even more comfortable with what McGonagall felt was my insulting behavior toward Lucius. The man was an evil jerk.

At breakfast, we were surprised to see Professor Trelawney seated at the staff table next to Professor McGonagall. Narcissa was seated as far from them as was possible and was chatting with Neville. As we ate, an owl landed with a message for Harry. The note read:

Dear Cousin,

I just had a thought that I'm hoping you'll consider. I'm trying to make some improvements to next year's line and thought a close study of your family's product might yield some insight. Knowing you are always willing to help a young inventor and knowing you no longer want the article in question, I'm asking you to consider sending it my way for what, unfortunately, would have to be destructive testing. It might both permanently solve your problem and lead to a permanent advance in Wizard technology, not to mention providing a boost to my humble career.

Your Favorite Uncle, S

Harry passed the note to Ron, raising his eyebrows in a quizzical expression. Ron quickly read the note, replying "He's welcome to my version of your family line, if you're not up for disinterring the original."

"I think that's a great idea," Harry responded. "We should make a trip right after breakfast."

That plan was temporarily suspended when Professor McGonagall stopped by the table, saying that Professor Trelawney had shown her an important, and quite frightening, vision in her mother's crystal ball. We agreed to head straight up to McGonagall's office to view the vision.

"I just got the ball to work for me last night," Professor Trelawney explained. "This is the first time that I've ever been able to initiate a vision or even to get the ball to turn on. I guess it has to get attuned to your personal frequency. I slept with the ball for the better part of two nights, before it would give me even a glimmer. Then I saw a rose dot in the center that brightened and suffused the whole globe, before focusing itself into the vision you are about to see."

She led us to the front of Professor McGonagall's desk, where the glass ball was lying on the table, beneath a black cloth. She whisked off the cloth and touched the tip of her wand to the top of the ball. A rose flare appeared immediately in the core of the globe, brightening and expanding until the whole globe was filled with a fairly bright pink to rose, swirling glow. There was the briefest flicker and then the light resolved into a discernable scene. I saw myself bound to what King Goblanze had described as the 'Mother of the Future chair' in the Sacred Chamber. Harry was bound to a chair next to me and a Goblin was holding a curved sword to his throat. The scene darkened and then dissolved as the globe darkened to a bright blood red, so quickly that it forced an involuntary gasp from my lips.

Harry merely commented, "This is consistent with Professor Firenze's prophetic vision. If I have to face death again, I will. I knew that was the ultimate downside to being Keeper. If the source of magic is threatened, I'll have no choice but to enter the Sacred Cavern. There's no reason Ginny has to be at risk, though."

"If you go in, I'll go in with you," I answered him.

"It's not necessarily as grim as you may think," Professor Trelawney hastily interjected. "Perhaps I should have given you a warning up front. The globe turning red at the end doesn't mean your throat has just been slit. If a bright light appeared in the scene, that is exactly how the ball would react – the color would quickly saturate, going brighter and darker, just as you saw, until the globe was overwhelmed and forced to reset. When it does that, in this case, it just begins the same scene all over, again and again. I must have watched it a hundred times, and there was no variation."

"Um, thanks, I'll consider that," Harry said, turning away.

{I think it's definitely time for some constituency service. Let the others make the trip into London}.

As we were heading toward the stairs, Professor McGonagall asked Harry, "Aren't you planning on sharing Professor Firenze's vision with us."

"I assumed he had told you, when you spoke to him. We really have to go, but Neville can fill you in. Better yet, you should get together with Professor Firenze and share your visions directly to each other so that each of you can fully appreciate the nuances of what the other has seen."

**Chapter 82 – We Wait For War**

During dinner, Mrs. Granger stopped by our table, in her capacity of Dr. Granger, to suggest that I might want to change my next appointment from Sunday to Friday, so that I could focus on my rescheduled Quidditch match. We agreed to meet right after dinner on Friday. Harry asked me if I would mind terribly if he put in an appearance at Draco's wedding, rather than attending my Quidditch match. I told him that I thought he should make whatever decision he thought best. When he said "then I guess I'd better be at the Quidditch match," I urged him to go to the wedding for the sake of improved relations with the Slytherins. He seemed relieved. I really wasn't bothered by this. I know that Harry has Deputy Minister ceremonial duties and during a match I'm too locked into my own world to even notice the students in the stands. He'd be at my Saturday game, in any event. If we lost on Saturday, we were highly unlikely to be the school champion. In my heart, I knew that we were very likely to lose on Saturday.

Hagrid's class was quite interesting. Harry had obligingly given me a heads-up that he had helped Hagrid put together a lesson on Elves. Actually he had done little more than suggest to Baal and Cotto that it would be helpful if they worked with Hagrid to make the class a success. Cotto took it from there and we were greeted by several dozen Elves as we showed up outside Hagrid's hut for the start of our lesson. At the outset of the class, one of the Hufflepuff girls complained that "Elves can hardly be considered among the more difficult of magical creatures. You had a hippogriff in the introductory course."

Cotto stepped forward and proclaimed "on the contrary, dear student, neither the fiercest dragon nor the largest hippogriff can compare with the difficulty of dealing with a free, intelligent, magical creature, one who you must treat as an equal. Adapting to that new reality may prove exceedingly difficult for some Wizards."

The Elves took turns discoursing on what they ate, how wild Elves lived and how free Elves now intended to live, what skills and talents they were born with and what they had learned, the inner workings of Elf families, what Elves thought of other magical creatures and how they had interacted over the centuries with Goblins, Centaurs, Unicorns, and, once upon a time, with Wizards, prior to the Elven Wars. They showed us the cages in which they had been forced to live at the Frakes' Elf farm and a mock-up of the sort of apartments that they now occupied at Hogwarts and the Ministry. The Hogwarts Elves explained the workings of the kitchen and how our rooms were processed while we were at class. The lesson extended to two and a half hours, but was time well spent.

Harry went off to the Ministry before lunch, saying he would be gone until after dinner. I took extra good notes for him to study from during the rest of the day's classes. Fortunately this wasn't potions day, or I would have had to work alone.

At dinner, Pavel came up to our table and asked to speak to Hermione, Ron, and me in private. He told us that he had heard that we had been practicing in preparation for an expected attack. He said that he wanted to help us, but that he didn't feel comfortable seeking out a special weapon partner on his own. He suggested that either he could work with Gabrielle, who had decided to remain at Hogwarts for the time being, or they could each pair with a partner of our choosing. He didn't want to spread Victor's secret too widely, but wanted to be prepared to assist us in fending off an attack. We told him that we'd speak to Harry, but that Margaret might be an excellent partner for Gabrielle. Pavel said he would wait until we talked to Harry, but left us with the cryptic comment "Gabrielle and I have a different, we think better, idea for Margaret."

Seamus showed up at Hogwarts shortly after dinner. Professor Sprout escorted him from the gate to the Gryffindor common room. He said that he had finished his examination of the Peverell wand that Ron had turned over to him and wanted to share the results with us. Knowing of her interest in wands and thinking it might further rapprochement, I suggested that we all go to Professor McGonagall's office to hear Seamus' report. Seamus was disappointed that Harry wasn't present for his report, but agreed that it made more sense to fill in the rest of us, rather than await Harry's uncertain arrival. We all trooped off to Professor McGonagall's office and found her in residence.

Seamus quickly explained his experiment and the rationale for undertaking it. Professor McGonagall immediately perked up with interest, asking "does that parcel contain the elements of the wand which you dissected?"

"It does indeed," he replied. "And most interesting entrails they turned out to be. Not saying how Ollivander and I make our wands, but Ron's wand was most definitely different." He opened his parcel and spread the contents on the desk. "As we knew," he began, "the wand itself is made from a very old piece of core elder wood. It is a perfectly straight, hollowed out cylinder twenty-six inches long by 5/8 inch diameter. The cavity is just about 3/16 inch diameter and is also perfectly straight, even, and smooth. The wand represents exquisite craftsmanship. As you can see, it's a shame that we had to cut the shaft of the wand in half, but the core, which I'll get to presently, was very tightly packed into the hollow. Note on the halves of the shaft that the interior cavity was coated with silver. I think it would take me a couple months and even Ollivander a several weeks to produce a wand this fine.

"The open end of the wand fits into a carved elder core wood handle. The handle is oval, an inch by an inch and a half in diameter and 1-7/8 inches high. The open end of the wand was inserted a half inch into the handle. Now, here is the first interesting part. You can see that the hole in the handle is coated with silver. Now if you look at the silver surface at the bottom of the hole – here, you can borrow my jeweler's loupe and pencil flash - Ollivander uses some Muggle tools – you can see that there appear to be little crystals embedded in the silver base. Now," Seamus announced, like a fledgling showman, as he picked up and carefully unwrapped a length of silk cloth "is what we found in the core of the wand. It's a cylinder of calcite, worked from a single crystal. It is twenty-five inches long, polished to great smoothness and almost exactly constant in diameter. Ollivander thinks it was inserted into the shaft by swelling the wood, inserting the crystal, and then letting the shaft contract. It would have been painstaking work. Moving back to the shaft of the wand, you can see that the thickness of the wood covering the closed end of the shaft is about a half inch. You can also see that the inside is also coated with silver. This leaves a gap of very close to a half an inch between the end of the crystal and the end of the rod. Does anyone want to guess what filled that gap?"

"Tiny cut diamond crystals?" Luna suggested.

"No, but it is mineral, or rather a blend of minerals." Seamus extracted a small sample vial from the final knotted silk cloth that his parcel had contained. "This is what we extracted. Fairly uniformly sized particles, mainly crystalline looking. We've got pink ones, white ones, grey ones, and even some grayish-black ones. The white ones are really quite white. I thought perhaps Hermione's Dad could make more of this than we could. Anyway, it was your wand, so I owed you the pieces and the explanation. I'm sorry that such a very fine wand has been destroyed, but Ollivander and I plan on trying to manufacture one or two like this one, ourselves, and test their properties. We're working on the components that we understand well enough to try to duplicate – really, we've only worked on trying to duplicate the silver on elder coating thus far. We can't possibly finish the job until you can tell us something more about these crystals. Meanwhile, we can try our hand at reproducing the shaft of the rod. I think matching the crystalline cylinder inside is months of work. We don't have a good crystal to start with, but Ollivander has his eyes out for one. He handles himself well enough among the Muggles that he is able to go on shopping trips for unusual supplies like this. He didn't want to ask the Goblins on this one."

McGonagall seemed delighted by both the wand components and the jeweler's loupe and pencil flash. "Thank you for coming to visit, Seamus. It's always good to see successful former students and I can't think when I've had as much fun as this. As you may or may not know, my family runs the wandmaker business in Edinburgh. I realize that they are your competitor, but wonder if you would permit me to share this information with them and get their interpretation. I once dissected about a dozen wands that my grandfather had produced. Some of them contained little crystals and others had fine silver wire wrapped inside and sometimes outside the shaft or handle. They must know why they include such things in their wands."

"It's Ron's wand, but we put a lot of work into examining it. I don't mind if you share, but would you please give us a month's head start before doing so? And don't assume that your family knows why it does what it does with wands. Ollivander doesn't. Much of what we do is done simply because that is the way it's been done for generations. We are a lot better at making wands than we are in explaining how they work."

"I'll certainly give you that month. Thank you again. And thank you, Ginny, for including me in this meeting."

Seamus rewrapped his bundle and gave it to Ron for safe keeping "and analysis of the mineral particles."

Professor McGonagall decided that she would escort Seamus back to the gate, herself. We all went down the stairs and past the gargoyle together, then McGonagall and Seamus went out the front door. They were chatting happily as they walked. I didn't see Harry until the next morning.

"I expected to see you last night - we had an important after-dinner visit from Seamus."

"It was a busy day and night at the Ministry. The French and German Wizards, with several dozen Goblins loyal to King Goblanze, launched an attack on Ruppasta's Goblins in the Paris catacombs. The French Ministry has a very good idea of the layout of the catacombs, permitting simultaneous attack from multiple directions. The battle had raged nearly a full day as of the last report we received, right before I left the Ministry at 4:00 A.M. The defenders were caught by surprise and the German Wizards used the 'secret weapon' to great effect. Ruppasta's Goblins were driven away from the magical Circle and have lost about half of the section of catacombs, which they had controlled. Viktor reports only one casualty among the German Wizards, with heavy casualties on Ruppasta's side. Action has been lighter on the French side. They killed several Goblins and captured half a dozen, taking no casualties themselves. The fighting has died down and they are attempting to fully secure the crystal chamber and get the circle retuned and back on line. Viktor said that is not going to be easy. It looks like it has been carefully sabotaged in a specific way, such that Ruppasta can restore it, but anyone else will have a horrendous chore."

We told Harry about Seamus's report on the Peverell wand. "That reminds me," Harry interjected half-way through my report, "the opposition in the Wizengamot yesterday demanded an inquiry into the deaths of the two attackers in Diagon Alley. They suspect that one of us, rather than the aurors, used a prohibited curse."

"Oops," I heard Ron mumble faintly. Fortunately, I didn't think Harry could possibly have heard him.

"Don't be surprised if the Ministry seizes your wands for analysis," Harry warned us.

"That wand is in pieces," Ron replied.

"I forgot that's what you were carrying. So it is."

As soon as we stood up from breakfast, Pavel and Gabrielle left their tables and purposefully strode over to us, catching us as we were about to leave the Great Hall.

"Out on the lawn, toward Hagrid's hut, I think," suggested Hermione.

Pavel put to Harry the proposal which he had suggested to us over dinner last night. Harry asked Pavel if there were any candidates in his house, whom he thought were suitable candidates for Pavel to partner with as a secret weapon team. Pavel didn't have anybody to suggest. "What about Jimmy Peakes?" I suggested. He seems like a good sort.

"I really like him," Neville replied. "I don't know that much about his politics. From last year's battle with the Carrows, I'd say he leaned our way, but wasn't a part of the active resistance. Perhaps Ginny could feel him out at Quidditch practice and get a better idea of his views. Last night we thought Margaret might team with Gabrielle, but Pavel said they had something else planned for her."

"She's really tiny," Gabrielle noted, "but her heart seems to be in the right place, and I think she wants a role in the fighting. We thought she might be able to wear the Joan of Arc relics, using her wand and Joan's sword to fight with."

"That sounds like a good idea," Harry encouraged her, but then thought further. "We promised her father that we'd protect her and keep her out of danger."

"If another battle comes to, or perhaps under, Hogwarts, everyone will be in danger," Neville mused. "I'm not sure how much more danger the fighters will be in, compared to the other students, provided we avoid unnecessary risks."

"You may be right about that," Harry agreed. "Certainly if the Montaigne formerly known as Lord had succeeded in his bombing, and Hogwarts had been fully populated, quite a few students might have been killed in collapsed towers. All right, I'll talk to her later today and see if she's interested. Do you have an alternate partner in mind, Gabrielle?"

"Yes, I've become very friendly with a fifth-year girl, Letitia Moncrief. She's quite large for her age, so we're an excellent match in size. She seems to be very opposed to the Death Eaters and a strong admirer of Harry."

"She was active in last year's resistance," Neville confirmed. "I can certainly vouch for her, she's very brave. She also can keep a secret. I agree that you should partner with her. You and Pavel should spend some time in the Room of Requirement training on the secret weapon this afternoon. I'll show you where it is and how to enter it. I guess that means Ginny should sound out Jimmy right away."

Fortunately, Jimmy also did not have a first period class, so he was sitting in the Common Room, reading his Transfiguration text when I entered. I hadn't really had adequate time to decide on a clever approach to take with him, to sort out his leanings and reliability. "It looks like we may be getting very close to another battle with the Death Eaters and Goblins, maybe even before the end of our Quidditch season," I told him.

Looking up from his book, he answered "why would you say that? Our season will be over in five days. I know you must hear things from Harry that the rest of us don't know. Are things really that serious?"

"Well there were the bombings in Diagon Alley and the attack on the Express; now the rebel Goblins are fighting the other Goblins and the Wizards in Paris. The Goblins in Britain and the Ministry have been on high alert for days and the situation isn't improving. The Death Eater leaders are still at large and I'm sure they have a lot of supporters who have never been identified. Just the absence of Slytherins at Hogwarts this term is a strong sign that the Voldemort wars aren't completely over."

"You're really depressing me. My uncle was murdered by a Death Eater a little over a year ago and my Dad was harassed just because he said that if Voldemort wanted to lead the Wizards, he should run for election, rather than taking over the Ministry by force. Thicknesse's goons really frightened him. They started our house on fire, but they didn't stay to watch it burn and Dad was able to put the fire out before anything other than the kitchen was damaged. It made me want to join your resistance last year, but Dad said that was too dangerous and the family was in enough trouble already. I felt like a coward, with girls like you in the resistance, but I had promised my parents. I hope there isn't another battle."

"There might be, and it might be very near to or at Hogwarts again. The Goblin's Sacred Cavern is very near Hogwarts and that is likely to be a target."

"I didn't realize that. I don't really pay attention in history class. Let me know if you or Neville want to revive the resistance. I'd be willing to join it this year. Dad isn't as frightened now that the Death Eaters don't control the Ministry. I had wanted to talk to you this morning, anyway, and you were so busy that I missed you at breakfast. I'm not sure that I can play my brother on Saturday. Kitten looked very promising in a little Keeper try out that I held last night. Your brother gave pointers to both Kitten and my brother. They are both going to keep practicing every night until Saturday, but I think Kitten will definitely be better by then. What I wanted to ask you was whether you would be willing to move to Chaser and help young Wood learn the Seeker position. I saw you working with him last week and he is improving really fast. The kid is a natural."

"I'm really busy, but I could spend an hour or so with Wood tonight and maybe tomorrow as well. Let me suggest that you let your brother start Saturday's game, but that you make the switch if he hasn't improved his play. I'd be willing to move from Seeker, but I want another try at catching the snitch out of the box. I almost had it on Sunday and I've been working on an improved strategy that I want to test out. Please give me at least the first two minutes of the match at Seeker."

"Okay, both you and my brother certainly deserve that."

I tested our new apparation spot to travel to the Ministry. I had no problem reaching Harry's office. I found Percy and asked if he could very quickly check and confirm Jimmy's story about the murder of his uncle and the attack upon his family's house.

Percy got back to me at lunchtime, confirming that Jimmy's tale was true and that based upon the fairly extensive inquiries that he had made, there was no reason to believe that Jimmy or anyone in his family harbored Death Eater sentiments. Therefore, I caught Jimmy after lunch and fairly easily recruited him for defense of Hogwarts and the Sacred Cavern. I introduced him to Pavel and told them to meet Neville at his office at 3:00 P.M. I had an afternoon potions double, which gave me a chance for a long chat with Harry. Harry had spent the late morning and lunch hour at the Ministry. He relayed the disquieting news that the fighting in Paris had abruptly ended when Ruppasta and about 200 of his supporters had simply vanished as the Wizards and King Goblanze's forces closed in on them. The King was now fully in control of the remaining Goblins on the Continent and Monsieur Delacour had full control of the Paris catacombs, but everyone was wondering where Ruppasta would turn up next.

The Goblin guard force at Gringotts bank and all of the caverns in Britain had been increased as a precaution and the auror corps was on high alert. With this heightened sense of danger foremost in our minds, Harry was happy when I told him that we would soon have two additional special weapons teams at Hogwarts.

We had a very spirited Quidditch practice right after dinner, staying on the field until we could no longer see. Half of my brain said it was stupid to be practicing Quidditch at a time of such extreme danger. The other half of my brain, which won the internal argument, decided that until the situation clarified itself, there was little that I could do to reduce the danger and I might as well enjoy what might be one of my last opportunities to chase the Snitch. Wood was progressing very rapidly. I had to repeatedly warn him of the dangers of getting mixed up in the scrum occurring below the altitude at which we searched for the Snitch. Most times he spotted the snitch before I did - he really had amazingly good eyesight. I got to the Snitch before he did, but that might have been because I had the better broom. Toward the end of practice, we traded brooms and his pursuit of the Snitch improved.

The rest of the team was practicing gang-rushing the goal posts, with either Kitten or Kevin Peakes defending them. Both Kitten and Kevin appeared to be having a lot of difficulty when the Chasers passed the Quaffle as they raced at the rings. Kevin, in particular, almost always found himself defending the ring being charged by the Chaser who no longer had the Quaffle. Kitten was only a little better. Ron kept encouraging them to trust their horizontal mobility and not commit too soon to defense of a particular ring. As I left the field with Ron, I didn't know whether either of our Keepers could shape up by Saturday.

Jimmy drew Ron and me aside as the team left the field, thanking us for working with the younger students, but also commenting that "your secret weapon is really awesome. Pavel is a great teacher. We'll practice again tomorrow afternoon, but I think we're going to make a good team. It feels good to be part of Hogwarts' defense squad."

Harry was off to the Ministry right after breakfast, and I again took notes for him. I didn't see him until dinner, telling Jimmy to please move to a different seat, as soon as I saw Harry enter the Great Hall in what looked like a state of high agitation. "The Goblins freed the Montaignes," were the first words out of Harry's mouth. "The aurors were overwhelmed by close to a hundred of Ruppasta's Goblins. They just fired a few curses and then apparated to safety. They think they killed two of the attacking Goblins, but the Montaignes are gone. The theory is that the Goblins 'kidnapped' them, allowing them to escape without actually escaping and not triggering the consequences of breaking the Unbreakable Vows which each of them took. We don't know what actions they will be able to undertake voluntarily without being killed by the Unbreakable Vows. The caverns have all been reinforced and Montaigne Castle is now defended by alarm spells and several very large bombs. Cissy definitely should not return to the castle."

I asked Harry if I should skip my Quidditch practice. He said the danger likely wasn't quite that imminent and I should enjoy a final happy fly, but that he would warn the special weapon teams that they should not actually practice fire the curse anymore. They needed to save their strength for the real thing. Since I was going right to practice from dinner and Harry had to warn Cissy and the others, we ignored Professor McGonagall's strictures on public displays of affection and had a fairly good snog standing beside our table, in full view of the staff table and the Gryffindor first years. Before McGonagall could rouse herself to object, we had broken our clinch and I was off to the Quidditch pitch.

We had another very good practice. Kitten and young Wood were both improving much faster than Jimmy's brother, and both of the Peakes seemed to realize this. Kevin told me "I know that I'm going to be replaced, but I'll at least get to start the next game. I'm going to try for a really good five minutes or so."

Harry was gone before I went down to breakfast. I was a very diligent note taker in the classes that we shared. Most of the morning was a long Advanced Divination class. Professor Firenze told us that he was preparing a sand painting of a Yantra, which he might require to get the universe and the local magic back into tune. He said that ideally he would perform this task in either the Sacred Cavern or its Reception Hall, but that as these areas seemed increasingly destined to host a major battle during the coming days, he had been required to seek out an alternative site. He apparated the class, which was reduced to ten members with Harry gone, underground, and we walked to what I recognized as the top of the underground pyramid. The students stood on the upper steps as Firenze continued his sand drawing on the flat top surface. "This is as good a flat surface close to the Sacred Chamber as I could think of. I've been at work on this for a day. A Centaur Yantra is similar to both a Hindu Yantra and a Buddhist Mandala, but ours is the original magical creation, from which the Muggles copied. I'm drawing my Yantra using the traditional magical sands, produced by the wearing away of the stones and crystals of very ancient circles which are no longer active.

"My sand comes from the original Hogwarts Circle and from one of the Stonehenge rocks. The pink sand and the flat shiny grey sand are from the rose granite cylinders of the Hogwarts circle. The white is from the alabaster cylinders from that circle. The dark grey is from the lodestone in the center of that circle and the fine medium grey is from Stonehenge. The important thing is that each grain of sand was once part of an active magical circle and has experienced a high concentration of magical energy over centuries of its existence. Even after all of these years, the little crystals maintain a trace of that imprinting.

"The outer circle of my Yantra represents the boundary of our universe, with its four gates representing the entry of the Centaurs, Unicorns, Goblins, and Wizards to do their part in restoring magical stability. The inner circles show the even manner in which the lines of magic are supposed to interact, without smudging and interfering. The triangles are the significant stars, which must be moved to the proper spots to unblock the flow of time through the cosmic pinch point, which I showed you in the night sky over Iona. The inner square, again with its four gates, represents the Sacred Cavern, with the inner circles representing the Circle in that cavern. The star in the center is where the Light Guardian is called to rectify the Circle, if we should fail. The little square inside the big inner square is the landing zone to be commanded by the Messenger Elf."

Firenze continued to lay sand as he spoke to us. We watched him for several hours as he explained the intricacies of his representation and showed us the braided points in the circles, where the magical force lines had improperly crossed. Those spots on the Yantra would need to be anointed with Unicorn blood and tears to properly lubricate and energize the alignment of the force lines and the sand. Activating the Yantra would require the insertion of two unicorn horns in the precise position that he pointed out to us and finally the spilling of his own blood onto the drawing. Firenze intimated that the time was close at hand when the drawing would be needed. He said that he would continue work on his drawing and asked Hermione and me to apparate the other students back to the pocket inside the fence. There were a lot of stiff backs from standing on the stone steps, but also a lot of excited chatter as we walked from the fence pocket to the Great Hall for lunch.

I was cheered to see that Harry had returned for lunch. "There's still a lot of excitement at the Ministry, but really nothing more that I can do at the moment. After sticking it to Gringotts a little more than the Minister and I had intended on the terms of the charter renewal, the Wizengamot decided that it was urgent to propitiate the Goblins, lest the problems with Ruppasta spin out of control. The Wizengamot gave its blessing to my proposed Goblin Sanctuary this morning, and King Goblanze already held a celebration ceremony at the bank. I've just come from there. The Goblins who have stayed loyal to the King seem really pleased that he was able to pull this off so quickly. Whether to make sure the Sanctuary is really true, or to guard their plot of land and the back door into Hogwarts, fifty young Goblins have gone off to occupy the cave on their sanctuary land and stake the Goblin claim to the Sanctuary."

I told Harry about all that Firenze had told us in class. "It's strange," Harry responded "that nobody ever mentioned an original magical cavern at Hogwarts. We should explore and guard that cavern. It could well be the target of an attack by Ruppasta. I'm off to visit Firenze at the pyramid. I guess you'll have to continue taking notes for me." Under McGonagall's glare, I gave Harry a very brief peck on the mouth before he set off for the pyramid. With McGonagall's history class in half an hour, I wasn't eager to anger her in advance of my arrival.

I sat between Cissy and Hermione in history class, shrugging my shoulders in response to a look from Professor McGonagall, which I interpreted as "where's Harry?" Harry showed up halfway through class and must have sat at the very back of the room, because I only learned of his presence when McGonagall interrupted her lecture to comment "how nice of you to finally join us, Mr. Potter."

I was out of my seat as soon as the lecture ended, both to avoid McGonagall and to catch up with Harry before he vanished again. We all had a free period, so we headed back to our common room. "Firenze told me about the original Hogwarts Circle. Nobody showed it to us, because the stones and crystals were removed a very long time ago. Some are even incorporated into the current Circle in the Sacred Cavern, but most were removed to storage caves and reworked over the centuries. Firenze confirms that although his sand has been handed down through many generations of Centaurs, the stones from which it was made still exist. Most of them are in the Aragog cave in the forest. As far as Firenze knows, they are the last remaining stones and crystals from the original circle. That circle was believed to be about 5000 years old. It was dismantled over two thousand years ago. He said there are conflicting accounts concerning the location of the original cavern. As we chatted and compared notes, we agreed that the likeliest location of that cavern is the present Chamber of Secrets, although possibly the more prosaic Goblin utility cavern or even the entry cave that the Goblins are now guarding might also be possible locations.

I described the Chamber of Secrets in detail, including the path leading to the cave on the hillside and the paths from the pyramid and from the Moaning Myrtle bathroom. "Firenze then concluded that the Chamber of Secrets matched the ancient stories and must be the location of the original Circle. He wants to explore it after the current excitement is over."

Harry wanted to check in on the Reception Hall, so we unbarricaded the arch entrance from our Common Room to the network of pyramid pathways and apparated from the vestibule. Bane had half a dozen Centaurs with him, saying he had to maintain a security presence, in case Firenze needed to return. Harry told him where Firenze was and what he was up to. Bane immediately decided to take a guard force to the pyramid to protect Firenze. Before he left, he told Harry that the number of Goblins and their degree of agitation had both increased, but that there had been no untoward activity. Judging from the large pile of hay in the corner of the Reception Hall, the Centaurs planned to sleep in the Hall.

The rest of the week crept by with an air of complete unreality. Life went on in an almost normal fashion in a period of quiet before the storms of war, which I think we all felt were coming. I ate, went to class, practiced Quidditch, saw a little less of Harry than I wanted, but lived the life of a normal Hogwarts student, rather than the frenzied pursuit of new experiences and pleasures that I would have expected of myself, with the timer on my life ticking down to its final weeks or days. I seemed lacking in the will or energy to do something dramatically different. Was there no place that I was desperate to see, before I died?

Mrs. Granger had not found my state of mind to her liking, saying I was not as fine as I declared myself to be and was suffering from what the Muggles once called 'shell shock'. Taking my belief that I had only weeks to live as a theoretical starting point for analysis, she asked, "Isn't there a list of last things that you want to do in the weeks ahead?" I said I was looking forward to my Quidditch practices, as many snogs with Harry as possible, and a big hug from Mom. That was it. I had stopped battling Headmaster McGonagall, more because it just seemed a pointless waste of energy than because I felt we had resolved our issues and reached a true truce.

We all had done as much preparation as we could think of to position ourselves for the battles to come. We had even stashed food, water, and Muggle bombs in the Room of Requirement, the landing inside the Gryffindor archway, and at George's shop in Hogsmeade. We laid in a good supply of Weasley novelties, potions, Weasley invisibility cloaks, and even spare wands. The Joan armor was now in Margaret's bedroom. We had all taken to carrying our brooms with us to classes and meals. We had a good supply of fuel for the emergency generator and extra cell phones, so that I now had my own, although, like the others, I had been told to use it only in dire emergency. Neville had taken to wearing the Sword of Gryffindor. Dumbledore's Army was on alert and we had recruited a dozen new students to our cause. Our call signal galleons were always on our persons. Harry spent more time at the Ministry than usual, but that had led to more fretting than action.

The Ministry had no solid leads on the whereabouts of Thickness, Barty Crouch, or the Montaignes. Searches were conducted and aurors scanned faces in the communities where they were thought most likely to go to ground. They likely were disguising themselves with Polyjuice Potion. The Muggle Prime Minister had long since been alerted, but there was little he could do, apart from asking the police to look for Thicknesse and Crouch on suspicion of murder and seditious activities. They couldn't help us find the Montaignes, since they had told the world of their deaths. We planned and we guarded and we worried, but, in truth, there was little we could do but await the next actions of our opponents. The most important places to be guarded were guarded by King Goblanze's Goblins, and he kept insisting that he could maintain better control of his Goblins and these sites if Wizards remained scarce. Bane's Centaurs were accepted with great reluctance, because Bane insisted that the Centaurs be present as a matter of honor. There was no disguising the Goblins' pleasure when a third of the Centaurs were sent to guard Firenze and another third to guard the Aragog cave.

Break, break, break, break

If you have sensed that we are approaching the end of Part II, you are correct.

**Original text**

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**Original text**

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	85. Chapter 85

**Chapter Eighty-Five - The Quidditch Match**

I had spent a little too much time with Harry and would have to hurry to get to the match on time. I was moving quickly past the gargoyle, when I saw Madam Bones coming down the stair from McGonagall's office. Rushed as I was, I was stopped by the look on her face. She was both surprised and displeased to see me. "Oh, Ginny, I was just checking to see how your Headmaster was getting on in the emotional aftermath of Harry's fight with Draco."

"I think you mean Draco's fight with Harry and me," I replied over my shoulder as I sped away. It was enlightening to know how McGonagall was still describing that fight.

I was quickly into my Quidditch gear, broom in hand, just as the last of our team was heading out to the pitch. Jimmy looked like he had worried that I wouldn't show up.

It was a very pleasant, warm, sunny autumn afternoon, with just a few high clouds in the sky. I took my place on the field with my teammates, nodding to Jimmy that I was revved up and ready to go. Madame Hooch released the Bludger, Quaffle, and then the Golden Snitch. As the other players slowly rose into the sky, I raced after the Snitch, as fast as my broom could carry me, and totally oblivious to any risk from the Bludger. It was barely possible to catch the snitch on its initial ascent. It had been done once before, nearly forty years ago by Jon Farkas, and he was still remembered for this feat. That one stupendous achievement, coupled with a very solid five years as seeker for Slytherin, caused many to regard him as the greatest Seeker in the history of Hogwarts. I was determined to do something equally memorable to stamp my name in Hogwarts Quidditch lore. I had a better shot at achieving this than even Harry had because I was lighter than Harry and had the newest model Firebolt, which Harry had given me as a present on my last birthday. The broom even carried the autograph of Gwennog Jones.

I kept my eye locked on the Snitch from the point of its release, seeing it go almost straight up and then curve off to my left. I almost overtook it, when it bent back to the right. I adjusted my angle, but kept accelerating, reaching my right hand up from my broom to grab the devious Snitch. It changed directions again, just as I was almost upon it, curving away from me. This forced me to try a one-handed catch, with my right arm fully extended. I adjusted my arm, but the Snitch hit the end of my outstretched hand and bounced away, curving away from me and downward. I dove with it, gaining speed and closing in on a bearing right at the point where it would be in two seconds. As I reached to haul in the snitch, I had a glancing collision with Jimmy Jones, the opposing seeker.

Neither of us was knocked off our broom, but I was thrown off course and missed the snitch. I would have to revert to a normal game. I hadn't made history, but I still refused to be beaten by a second year seeker with as prosaic a name as Jimmy Jones. I regained altitude, so that I could both keep an eye on Jimmy, while lazily circling the field, trying to find the snitch. This may sound like low-effort seeking, but it is really the most efficient approach. You have to keep your broom and head steady to have the best chance of seeing the Snitch.

As my eyes occasionally locked on the other players or the score, I could tell that the game wasn't going well. Every shot that I saw on our rings went through, with Jimmy's brother being caught badly out of position. I did see Demelza score for our side. The score was 90 – 10 against us, our supporters in the crowd had turned silent, and neither Jimmy nor I had spotted the snitch. Then I saw it, hovering just a couple feet off the ground near the sideline at mid-field, not exactly the first place one would look to see where the snitch was hanging out. I began a power dive toward the ground, passing a startled Jimmy Jones on the way down. He turned around and dove after me, but he had no chance of beating me to the snitch. My big problem was that the snitch was so low that I had to worry both about crashing and flying close enough to the opposing Beaters that they would have an unusually easy shot at either trying to knock me off my path or hit me with a Bludger.

I caught the Beaters by surprise and buzzed past them about 6 feet off the ground, going scary fast. The snitch hadn't moved more than a foot in any direction since I had begun my dive. An opposing Chaser grazed my side, making me shift to the right, but remaining basically on course. I was helped by the snitch deciding to move a couple feet to my right as I closed on it. I had never seen a snitch do this, it was now effectively trapped against the stands on the right and could only move parallel to me, up, or to my left. I came in to its left, lifting both hands from the broom to reach out and grab it, I was going too fast to try a one-handed stab - the snitch would surely have just bounced away. I had the broom between my thighs and, further back along its length, between my ankles. I squeezed against the broom as tightly as I could, so as not to fall off. The snitch hit my cupped hands and stayed in place. My right palm really stung. Making sure the Snitch was firmly secured in my left hand, I moved the right back to the broomstick and pulled upward to kill velocity and avoid striking the ground, which I could almost touch with my feet, even with my legs clamped to the broomstick.

I looped up to about thirty feet off the ground, slowing as I climbed. Not knowing, or perhaps not caring, that I had already captured the Snitch, a burly opposing beater banged into my side as I was floating my broom down toward the ground. He shocked me and almost knocked me off the broom. I flew about fifteen feet tilted at a fairly steep angle to the side, but I righted myself from about ten feet off the ground and came in for a lazy landing. I dismounted and raised my left arm to display the snitch.

We had won. Jimmy Peakes led the team in congratulating me, but I was actually feeling more ecstatic from the swift dive, than from the outcome of the match. For the first time since the match had begun, my eyes searched the stands for Harry, Hermione, and my brothers. I saw them almost in front of me in the stands, cheering and making their way down toward the pitch. Harry was holding two thumbs up. I waved to Harry and the gang and then went off to change back into my school robes, prior to dinner.

I congratulated Kitten and Demelza as I dressed, telling them that from what I saw when I was surveying the field from on high that they both appeared to be having an excellent match.

"Yes," Kitten replied. "Except for our Keeper, I think we have a very good team this year. We got more shots at the rings than Hufflepuff managed, but they scored on all but two attempts, while all but two of our shots were blocked. Our Captain picked the wrong Keeper, but I don't think he'll be able to bring himself to replace his brother. You should encourage him to make a change."

"Not my place, I'm under instructions to be helpful and supportive to Jimmy. You'll have to raise the subject with him, yourself. I don't even see what he can do. Unfortunately, he didn't even add a reserve Keeper to the squad, so now we're stuck."

"If you were willing to switch back to Chaser, I'd be willing to take a shot at Keeper. We do have two spare Seekers."

"I'm willing to play Chaser, if Jimmy asks me."

Having finished dressing, I gathered up my things and headed for the exit. Jimmy was waiting for me and guided me toward a quiet corner. "I know none of the rest of you thought my brother had earned his spot on the team, but he begged me to give him a chance, and I didn't know how to turn him down and not make an enemy of him. I know he isn't very good and we won only because you caught the snitch. I feel terrible. We have a really good team, except for Kevin. I'd like to resign and make you Captain."

"I can't accept that. Professor McGonagall says that I can't be Captain. I couldn't add a replacement Keeper, even if I were Captain. You didn't add a spare to the team and that omission seems to have been deliberate. We can't add another player unless we have enough injuries that we go through all of our reserves. You're stuck with the team that you picked. You'll have to either teach Kevin to play better or find somebody else on the team who can do a better job. I'm just going to enjoy flying above the fray as Seeker. I refuse to take responsibility for the mess you've created. It would just destroy my enjoyment of the game."

I smiled as I said this, but I turned and left him to solve his problem, himself. Perhaps he would take Kitten up on her offer, although I had no idea whether or not she would be a better Keeper than Kevin. I headed back to the common room to join the victory celebration and chat with Harry. It felt good to be the center of all the positive attention. The team was in generally good spirits, although Kevin was standing by himself in a corner. I went up to him, saying, "cheer up, we won. You need to practice reacting quicker to the player with the Quaffle."

"Jimmy doesn't want me to start anymore. He's going to try Kitten at Keeper."

"I'm sure she's just trying out for the position and you'll get to compete with her over the next week. She's never played Keeper before."

"Neither did I until this year. It's much harder than it looks. I tried out for the team last year for both Keeper and Beater, but didn't make the squad. I worked with Jimmy over the summer, but it's different defending the actual goals and with three players flying at you. I can't tell when they're going to pass the Quaffle, keep it themselves, or when they're going to zig from the ring that they're aimed at when I first see them."

"I'm not going to try to tell you that you were good today, because you weren't. If you've only had two practices as Keeper, then you could very well improve with more practice. If you want a chance to remain as a starter, you need to practice on your own. Ask one of my brothers if he would be able to work with you. Ron was a Keeper, and he also had a rough start."

He looked a little better, when I left him and wandered back into the mob of Gryffindors at the center of the common room. He received encouragement from some of the other students, which seemed to brighten his spirits. At that moment there was a knock on the door of our common room. I went to open the door and found Madam Hooch, Professor McGonagall, and Jack Abbott, the Captain of the Hufflepuff team, on the other side of the door. I stepped aside to let them enter the room. Professor McGonagall opened her mouth to speak above the din, but Madam Hooch blew her whistle and the room quickly quieted down.

"Hufflepuff has filed a challenge to the match," Professor McGonagall announced. "They say that the snitch malfunctioned, and I must admit that it did behave quite strangely, just hovering near the ground for most of the match."

"We didn't supply the snitch, so I think the teams had an equal opportunity to win," Jimmy objected.

"I almost had it at the start of the match and it was behaving normally at that time," I told Professor McGonagall. "It bounced off the end of my hand and curved away from me. Perhaps one of its wings was broken in that collision. I didn't see it again after that until right before I dove for it. It was just hovering a couple feet above the ground, toward the edge of the field. From the time I spotted it until I caught it, it didn't move more than about a foot in any direction."

"A broken wing would certainly explain its odd behavior," Madam Hooch agreed. She took the snitch out of the box and examined it, reporting "it does indeed have a broken wing. It couldn't have flown off at the start as it did, if the wing was broken at that time. It behaved like a perfectly normal snitch out of the box. It must have been damaged during its initial encounter with Miss Weasley."

"If the snitch was too damaged to perform properly, Madam Hooch should have halted the match and released a new snitch," Jack Abbott complained.

"I would have done exactly that, had I known the snitch was badly damaged, but I didn't know that, did I," Madam Hooch retorted.

"But now you do know, so the capture of the Snitch should be disallowed and we should resume the match at that point with a replacement Snitch," Jack insisted.

To huge groans from the entire common room, Professor McGonagall announced "that does seem fair."

"It does not seem fair," Jimmy protested. "Both teams played under equal conditions. Our victory should stand. Even if one were to argue the totally untenable position that the game must continue, it is a total contradiction to disallow the capture of the Snitch, while allowing the goals scored after the snitch was damaged to stand. You would have to replay the whole game, from about the thirty second point, where the snitch was damaged. The fairest thing is to let the final result stand, since the match was never halted by Madam Hooch. Are we to replay all matches where Madam Hooch misses a call or makes a wrong call? Referees miss calls all the time, but the players just suck it up and play on, hoping a future officiating mistake goes their way, to even things out. There was no Gryffindor foul here, there's no penalty for attempting to snare the snitch and failing, even if the snitch is damaged in the process. If Hufflepuff felt the snitch was too badly damaged for the match to continue, then it was their responsibility to appeal to her at the time, not wait until the game is over. You can bet they would not be appealing if young Jones had caught the Snitch."

"He is certainly correct on that point," Madam Hooch informed the headmaster.

"I'm going to think over your arguments and give you my decision on the protest during dinner," Professor McGonagall announced, turning on her heel and leading her fellow invaders back out of our common room.

She left in her wake a common room in hushed shock, but ripples of protest quickly spread through the room, with some students loudly expressing their dismay. Neville quickly stepped in. "This isn't going to help anything. We don't even know which way the Headmaster is going to rule on the protest."

"If she were going to deny the protest, she wouldn't have even come here," Kevin Peakes responded.

"You know that's not true," Neville replied. "She has to consider all protests, and part of that consideration is listening to the rebuttal argument from our side. I think your brother made a very strong case on our behalf."

"I'd feel better about our chances if he hadn't given her a middle ground as an out," "Demelza complained.

Harry cheered me by commenting that whatever decision McGonagall made, I knew that I made a great diving catch of the snitch at the end and came within an inch of pulling off a truly amazing feat at the start of the match. "Anyway you look at it, it's a match that you should be very happy about."

"I am," I told Harry. "I feel just the teensiest bit guilty that I'm not really all that concerned about McGonagall's decision. It was a fun and exciting match for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon. Considering that I'm the one who caught the snitch, I have no doubt what McGonagall's decision will be."

There was an air of expectancy at our table throughout dinner, with McGonagall apparently determined to withhold her decision until after dessert was served. I didn't allow the tension around me to disturb either my appetite or my good feeling about my play. It was my first game in nearly a year and it had exhilarated me. I chatted happily with Harry and Hermione about possible means of slicing and dicing a ghost, with Ron complaining that McGonagall hadn't even given Nick detention for plotting against Peeves. At least Peeves had taken the situation seriously and not pranked Gryffindor at all since Nick made his suggestion. He seemed to be concentrating his attentions on Ravenclaw.

As I began to eat a big slice of pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert, McGonagall rose to speak. "As most of you are likely aware, the result of this afternoon's Quidditch match has been challenged by Hufflepuff on the grounds that play was erroneously allowed to proceed with a badly damaged snitch. After giving the matter thorough consideration and reviewing the rulebook with Madam Hooch, I have determined that nothing in the rules bears directly upon an instance like this in which the referee fails to observe that the snitch is unable to continue play. I am therefore forced to decide the matter myself, being mindful of the importance of a single game in this year's shortened Quidditch season. I therefore rule to partially uphold the Hufflepuff protest. The game will be replayed from the start next Sunday afternoon."

Cheers broke out at the Hufflepuff table while there were murmurs of discontent from our own table. It did seem that Gryffindor would be at a great disadvantage, since we were scheduled to play Slytherin the day before. Hufflepuff did not play Slytherin until the following Saturday, so the added game would not impact them. Jimmy Peakes complained about the scheduling and said he would file an appeal with the Headmaster. For the most part, the Gryffindors finished their desserts in silence and quickly departed the Great Hall and the continuing revelry at the Hufflepuff table.

Back in the Common Room, Jimmy enlisted Hermione's help in composing his letter of appeal and protest. Harry and I went to his office to continue catching up on his constituency service. His constituency was becoming increasingly contented.

At the start of breakfast Professor McGonagall simply noted, "I have received two appeals concerning my Quidditch ruling of the last evening. Gryffindor alleges that it is unfair to schedule them to play back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday. Draco and Pansy complain that the rescheduled Quidditch match will conflict with their wedding. I have concluded that I would prefer to finish the Quidditch season while the weather remains favorable. It is possible that the following week will be required for a playoff game, in the event of a tie. Since neither Draco nor Pansy is a member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, I see no need to reschedule the game to accommodate their wedding plans. My ruling of last night stands."

We finished our breakfasts amidst a table filled with mutinous grumbling. Finally Jimmy spoke up "we can't let this get us down. We have to play that much harder next weekend and take resolution from this unfair action. They still have to beat us on the field."

After our Muggle Studies class, which dealt with the use of cell phones, Hermione's Dad led our circle into his shop and showed us four large three-foot square aluminum boxes with hinged doors, which could be securely locked in place. "These should hold the pieces of your ghost. They're ready for use, whenever you want them. What I really wanted to show you is this setup that I thought might serve to break the ghost into pieces and immobilize him. He led us to the corner of the room, where he had set up three large metal cylinders, connected by a length of piping and metal controls and connected to more piping that terminated in what appeared to be a series of shower heads. "This is basically a giant carbon dioxide fire extinguisher system. I see Hermione remembers what that is. Anyhow, when you open this valve here, DON'T DO IT NOW, high pressure carbon dioxide will shoot out these nozzles and form a fairly solid blanket of very cold snow. The flow should last for about twenty seconds. If you use your wand to drive the ghost in the direction of the spray, it might freeze into the snow and you can just load that into the metal boxes, while it is still frozen. I don't know if this will work, but it was the best thing that I could think of."

"It's brilliant, Dad," Hermione encouraged him. "If we use curses that split the ghost into two pieces, like Harry and Narcissa did, it might make it even easier to gather it up in pieces. I think this is definitely worth trying."

"I'll help you set it up, when you plan to set the trap. You'll have to be careful, the carbon dioxide blanket will be cold enough to freeze your skin and it will displace enough oxygen that you could suffocate. The oxygen will become especially scarce near the floor and within the blanket. I've also bought oxygen breather masks for six of you to wear while you're sweeping the chunks of snow and ghost into the boxes. They'll only give you about five to ten minutes of breathable air, so you'll have to hurry. I'll be your safety officer and run a stopwatch. When I blow my whistle, you'll have to leave immediately, regardless of how much ghost you've swept up."

"That seems reasonable, Dad. Thanks. We have to get off to our next class."

During our free time that afternoon, we practiced skills that we thought might come in handy for the battle that we expected to be just ahead. Harry practiced summoning all of his Elves to the Reception Hall, Hermione practiced summoning Fawkes. We all practiced silent and wandless spells and curses, especially the 'off' curse that Mom had shown us in class. That and Sectumsempra, as well as 'Kill!, if we were willing to be that lethal, seemed to have the advantage of surprise, in addition to being more powerful than 'expelliarmus', 'petrificus totalis' or the bat-bogie jinx. We swore to ourselves, and made Ron swear, that we would not use any forbidden curses. We did practice pronouncing the 'x-ter-me-nate' curse in perfect unison. We didn't know if we would need it, or whether we could bring ourselves to use it on Wizards, but felt that, in desperation, we would be willing to unleash it on a horde of attacking Goblins. Maybe we all were still at least a little specist, with regard to our fellow magical creatures.

We all attended McGonagall's Wizard History class and surprised her by all being model students. She seemed to expect an uprising, or at least personal protests from me, about her Quidditch decisions. This class was the only time since those decisions that any of us had been in such close proximity with her. After the class was over, Draco approached her and softly complained that "it's kind of cold to force the students to choose between my wedding and a rescheduled Quidditch match."

We were drifting out of the classroom but still overheard her response "I'm not entirely sure that I approve of students marrying in the middle of a term. I certainly won't alter the other students' schedules to accommodate such an impromptu wedding ceremony."

**Original text**

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	86. Chapter 86

**Chapter Eighty-Five – We Wait For War**

During dinner, Mrs. Granger stopped by our table, in her capacity of Dr. Granger, to suggest that I might want to change my next appointment from Sunday to Friday, so that I could focus on my rescheduled Quidditch match. We agreed to meet right after dinner on Friday. Harry asked me if I would mind terribly if he put in an appearance at Draco's wedding, rather than attending my Quidditch match. I told him that I thought he should make whatever decision he thought best. When he said "then I guess I'd better be at the Quidditch match," I urged him to go to the wedding for the sake of improved relations with the Slytherins. He seemed relieved. I really wasn't bothered by this. I know that Harry has Deputy Minister ceremonial duties and during a match I'm too locked into my own world to even notice the students in the stands. He'd be at my Saturday game, in any event. If we lost on Saturday, we were highly unlikely to be the school champion. In my heart, I knew that we were very likely to lose on Saturday.

Hagrid's class was quite interesting. Harry had obligingly given me a heads-up that he had helped Hagrid put together a lesson on Elves. Actually he had done little more than suggest to Baal and Cotto that it would be helpful if they worked with Hagrid to make the class a success. Cotto took it from there and we were greeted by several dozen Elves as we showed up outside Hagrid's hut for the start of our lesson. At the outset of the class, one of the Hufflepuff girls complained that "Elves can hardly be considered among the more difficult of magical creatures. You had a hippogriff in the introductory course."

Cotto stepped forward and proclaimed "on the contrary, dear student, neither the fiercest dragon nor the largest hippogriff can compare with the difficulty of dealing with a free, intelligent, magical creature, one who you must treat as an equal. Adapting to that new reality may prove exceedingly difficult for some Wizards."

The Elves took turns discoursing on what they ate, how wild Elves lived and how free Elves now intended to live, what skills and talents they were born with and what they had learned, the inner workings of Elf families, what Elves thought of other magical creatures and how they had interacted over the centuries with Goblins, Centaurs, Unicorns, and, once upon a time, with Wizards, prior to the Elven Wars. They showed us the cages in which they had been forced to live at the Frakes' Elf farm and a mock-up of the sort of apartments that they now occupied at Hogwarts and the Ministry. The Hogwarts Elves explained the workings of the kitchen and how our rooms were processed while we were at class. The lesson extended to two and a half hours, but was time well spent.

Harry went off to the Ministry before lunch, saying he would be gone until after dinner. I took extra good notes for him to study from during the rest of the day's classes. Fortunately this wasn't potions day, or I would have had to work alone.

At dinner, Pavel came up to our table and asked to speak to Hermione, Ron, and me in private. He told us that he had heard that we had been practicing in preparation for an expected attack. He said that he wanted to help us, but that he didn't feel comfortable seeking out a special weapon partner on his own. He suggested that either he could work with Gabrielle, who had decided to remain at Hogwarts for the time being, or they could each pair with a partner of our choosing. He didn't want to spread Victor's secret too widely, but wanted to be prepared to assist us in fending off an attack. We told him that we'd speak to Harry, but that Margaret might be an excellent partner for Gabrielle. Pavel said he would wait until we talked to Harry, but left us with the cryptic comment "Gabrielle and I have a different, we think better, idea for Margaret."

Seamus showed up at Hogwarts shortly after dinner. Professor Sprout escorted him from the gate to the Gryffindor common room. He said that he had finished his examination of the Peverell wand that Ron had turned over to him and wanted to share the results with us. Knowing of her interest in wands and thinking it might further rapprochement, I suggested that we all go to Professor McGonagall's office to hear Seamus' report. Seamus was disappointed that Harry wasn't present for his report, but agreed that it made more sense to fill in the rest of us, rather than await Harry's uncertain arrival. We all trooped off to Professor McGonagall's office and found her in residence.

Seamus quickly explained his experiment and the rationale for undertaking it. Professor McGonagall immediately perked up with interest, asking "does that parcel contain the elements of the wand which you dissected?"

"It does indeed," he replied. "And most interesting entrails they turned out to be. Not saying how Ollivander and I make our wands, but Ron's wand was most definitely different." He opened his parcel and spread the contents on the desk. "As we knew," he began, "the wand itself is made from a very old piece of core elder wood. It is a perfectly straight, hollowed out cylinder twenty-six inches long by 5/8 inch diameter. The cavity is just about 3/16 inch diameter and is also perfectly straight, even, and smooth. The wand represents exquisite craftsmanship. As you can see, it's a shame that we had to cut the shaft of the wand in half, but the core, which I'll get to presently, was very tightly packed into the hollow. Note on the halves of the shaft that the interior cavity was coated with silver. I think it would take me a couple months and even Ollivander a several weeks to produce a wand this fine.

"The open end of the wand fits into a carved elder core wood handle. The handle is oval, an inch by an inch and a half in diameter and 1-7/8 inches high. The open end of the wand was inserted a half inch into the handle. Now, here is the first interesting part. You can see that the hole in the handle is coated with silver. Now if you look at the silver surface at the bottom of the hole – here, you can borrow my jeweler's loupe and pencil flash - Ollivander uses some Muggle tools – you can see that there appear to be little crystals embedded in the silver base. Now," Seamus announced, like a fledgling showman, as he picked up and carefully unwrapped a length of silk cloth "is what we found in the core of the wand. It's a cylinder of calcite, worked from a single crystal. It is twenty-five inches long, polished to great smoothness and almost exactly constant in diameter. Ollivander thinks it was inserted into the shaft by swelling the wood, inserting the crystal, and then letting the shaft contract. It would have been painstaking work. Moving back to the shaft of the wand, you can see that the thickness of the wood covering the closed end of the shaft is about a half inch. You can also see that the inside is also coated with silver. This leaves a gap of very close to a half an inch between the end of the crystal and the end of the rod. Does anyone want to guess what filled that gap?"

"Tiny cut diamond crystals?" Luna suggested.

"No, but it is mineral, or rather a blend of minerals." Seamus extracted a small sample vial from the final knotted silk cloth that his parcel had contained. "This is what we extracted. Fairly uniformly sized particles, mainly crystalline looking. We've got pink ones, white ones, grey ones, and even some grayish-black ones. The white ones are really quite white. I thought perhaps Hermione's Dad could make more of this than we could. Anyway, it was your wand, so I owed you the pieces and the explanation. I'm sorry that such a very fine wand has been destroyed, but Ollivander and I plan on trying to manufacture one or two like this one, ourselves, and test their properties. We're working on the components that we understand well enough to try to duplicate – really, we've only worked on trying to duplicate the silver on elder coating thus far. We can't possibly finish the job until you can tell us something more about these crystals. Meanwhile, we can try our hand at reproducing the shaft of the rod. I think matching the crystalline cylinder inside is months of work. We don't have a good crystal to start with, but Ollivander has his eyes out for one. He handles himself well enough among the Muggles that he is able to go on shopping trips for unusual supplies like this. He didn't want to ask the Goblins on this one."

McGonagall seemed delighted by both the wand components and the jeweler's loupe and pencil flash. "Thank you for coming to visit, Seamus. It's always good to see successful former students and I can't think when I've had as much fun as this. As you may or may not know, my family runs the wandmaker business in Edinburgh. I realize that they are your competitor, but wonder if you would permit me to share this information with them and get their interpretation. I once dissected about a dozen wands that my grandfather had produced. Some of them contained little crystals and others had fine silver wire wrapped inside and sometimes outside the shaft or handle. They must know why they include such things in their wands."

"It's Harry's wand, but we put a lot of work into examining it. I don't mind if you share, but would you please give us a month's head start before doing so? And don't assume that your family knows why it does what it does with wands. Ollivander doesn't. Much of what we do is done simply because that is the way it's been done for generations. We are a lot better at making wands than we are in explaining how they work."

"I'll certainly give you that month. Thank you again. And thank you, Ginny, for including me in this meeting."

Seamus rewrapped his bundle and gave it to Ron for safe keeping "and analysis of the mineral particles."

Professor McGonagall decided that she would escort Seamus back to the gate, herself. We all went down the stairs and past the gargoyle together, then McGonagall and Seamus went out the front door. They were chatting happily as they walked. I didn't see Harry until the next morning.

"I expected to see you last night - we had an important after-dinner visit from Seamus."

"It was a busy day and night at the Ministry. The French and German Wizards, with several dozen Goblins loyal to King Goblanze, launched an attack on Ruppasta's Goblins in the Paris catacombs. The French Ministry has a very good idea of the layout of the catacombs, permitting simultaneous attack from multiple directions. The battle had raged nearly a full day as of the last report we received, right before I left the Ministry at 4:00 A.M. The defenders were caught by surprise and the German Wizards used the 'secret weapon' to great effect. Ruppasta's Goblins were driven away from the magical Circle and have lost about half of the section of catacombs, which they had controlled. Viktor reports only one casualty among the German Wizards, with heavy casualties on Ruppasta's side. Action has been lighter on the French side. They killed several Goblins and captured half a dozen, taking no casualties themselves. The fighting has died down and they are attempting to fully secure the crystal chamber and get the circle retuned and back on line. Viktor said that is not going to be easy. It looks like it has been carefully sabotaged in a specific way, such that Ruppasta can restore it, but anyone else will have a horrendous chore."

We told Harry about Seamus's report on the Peverell wand. "That reminds me," Harry interjected half-way through my report, "the opposition in the Wizengamot yesterday demanded an inquiry into the deaths of the two attackers in Diagon Alley. They suspect that one of us, rather than the aurors, used a prohibited curse."

"Oops," I heard Ron mumble faintly. Fortunately, I didn't think Harry could possibly have heard him.

"Don't be surprised if the Ministry seizes your wands for analysis," Harry warned us.

"That wand is in pieces," Ron replied.

"I forgot that's what you were carrying. So it is."

As soon as we stood up from breakfast, Pavel and Gabrielle left their tables and purposefully strode over to us, catching us as we were about to leave the Great Hall.

"Out on the lawn, toward Hagrid's hut, I think," suggested Hermione.

Pavel put to Harry the proposal which he had suggested to us over dinner last night. Harry asked Pavel if there were any candidates in his house, whom he thought were suitable candidates for Pavel to partner with as a secret weapon team. Pavel didn't have anybody to suggest. "What about Jimmy Peakes?" I suggested. He seems like a good sort.

"I really like him," Neville replied. "I don't know that much about his politics. From last year's battle with the Carrows, I'd say he leaned our way, but wasn't a part of the active resistance. Perhaps Ginny could feel him out at Quidditch practice and get a better idea of his views. Last night we thought Margaret might team with Gabrielle, but Pavel said they had something else planned for her."

"She's really tiny," Gabrielle noted, "but her heart seems to be in the right place, and I think she wants a role in the fighting. We thought she might be able to wear the Joan of Arc relics, using her wand and Joan's sword to fight with."

"That sounds like a good idea," Harry encouraged her, but then thought further. "We promised her father that we'd protect her and keep her out of danger."

"If another battle comes to, or perhaps under, Hogwarts, everyone will be in danger," Neville mused. "I'm not sure how much more danger the fighters will be in, compared to the other students, provided we avoid unnecessary risks."

"You may be right about that," Harry agreed. "Certainly if the Montaigne formerly known as Lord had succeeded in his bombing, and Hogwarts had been fully populated, quite a few students might have been killed in collapsed towers. All right, I'll talk to her later today and see if she's interested. Do you have an alternate partner in mind, Gabrielle?"

"Yes, I've become very friendly with a fifth-year girl, Letitia Moncrief. She's quite large for her age, so we're an excellent match in size. She seems to be very opposed to the Death Eaters and a strong admirer of Harry."

"She was active in last year's resistance," Neville confirmed. "I can certainly vouch for her, she's very brave. She also can keep a secret. I agree that you should partner with her. You and Pavel should spend some time in the Room of Requirement training on the secret weapon this afternoon. I'll show you where it is and how to enter it. I guess that means Ginny should sound out Jimmy right away."

Fortunately, Jimmy also did not have a first period class, so he was sitting in the Common Room, reading his Transfiguration text when I entered. I hadn't really had adequate time to decide on a clever approach to take with him, to sort out his leanings and reliability. "It looks like we may be getting very close to another battle with the Death Eaters and Goblins, maybe even before the end of our Quidditch season," I told him.

Looking up from his book, he answered "why would you say that? Our season will be over in five days. I know you must hear things from Harry that the rest of us don't know. Are things really that serious?"

"Well there were the bombings in Diagon Alley and the attack on the Express; now the rebel Goblins are fighting the other Goblins and the Wizards in Paris. The Goblins in Britain and the Ministry have been on high alert for days and the situation isn't improving. The Death Eater leaders are still at large and I'm sure they have a lot of supporters who have never been identified. Just the absence of Slytherins at Hogwarts this term is a strong sign that the Voldemort wars aren't completely over."

"You're really depressing me. My uncle was murdered by a Death Eater a little over a year ago and my Dad was harassed just because he said that if Voldemort wanted to lead the Wizards, he should run for election, rather than taking over the Ministry by force. Thicknesse's goons really frightened him. They started our house on fire, but they didn't stay to watch it burn and Dad was able to put the fire out before anything other than the kitchen was damaged. It made me want to join your resistance last year, but Dad said that was too dangerous and the family was in enough trouble already. I felt like a coward, with girls like you in the resistance, but I had promised my parents. I hope there isn't another battle."

"There might be, and it might be very near to or at Hogwarts again. The Goblin's Sacred Cavern is very near Hogwarts and that is likely to be a target."

"I didn't realize that. I don't really pay attention in history class. Let me know if you or Neville want to revive the resistance. I'd be willing to join it this year. Dad isn't as frightened now that the Death Eaters don't control the Ministry. I had wanted to talk to you this morning, anyway, and you were so busy that I missed you at breakfast. I'm not sure that I can play my brother on Saturday. Kitten looked very promising in a little Keeper try out that I held last night. Your brother gave pointers to both Kitten and my brother. They are both going to keep practicing every night until Saturday, but I think Kitten will definitely be better by then. What I wanted to ask you was whether you would be willing to move to Chaser and help young Wood learn the Seeker position. I saw you working with him last week and he is improving really fast. The kid is a natural."

"I'm really busy, but I could spend an hour or so with Wood tonight and maybe tomorrow as well. Let me suggest that you let your brother start Saturday's game, but that you make the switch if he hasn't improved his play. I'd be willing to move from Seeker, but I want another try at catching the snitch out of the box. I almost had it on Sunday and I've been working on an improved strategy that I want to test out. Please give me at least the first two minutes of the match at Seeker."

"Okay, both you and my brother certainly deserve that."

I tested our new apparation spot to travel to the Ministry. I had no problem reaching Harry's office. I found Percy and asked if he could very quickly check and confirm Jimmy's story about the murder of his uncle and the attack upon his family's house.

Percy got back to me at lunchtime, confirming that Jimmy's tale was true and that based upon the fairly extensive inquiries that he had made, there was no reason to believe that Jimmy or anyone in his family harbored Death Eater sentiments. Therefore, I caught Jimmy after lunch and fairly easily recruited him for defense of Hogwarts and the Sacred Cavern. I introduced him to Pavel and told them to meet Neville at his office at 3:00 P.M. I had an afternoon potions double, which gave me a chance for a long chat with Harry. Harry had spent the late morning and lunch hour at the Ministry. He relayed the disquieting news that the fighting in Paris had abruptly ended when Ruppasta and about 200 of his supporters had simply vanished as the Wizards and King Goblanze's forces closed in on them. The King was now fully in control of the remaining Goblins on the Continent and Monsieur Delacour had full control of the Paris catacombs, but everyone was wondering where Ruppasta would turn up next.

The Goblin guard force at Gringotts bank and all of the caverns in Britain had been increased as a precaution and the auror corps was on high alert. With this heightened sense of danger foremost in our minds, Harry was happy when I told him that we would soon have two additional special weapons teams at Hogwarts.

We had a very spirited Quidditch practice right after dinner, staying on the field until we could no longer see. Half of my brain said it was stupid to be practicing Quidditch at a time of such extreme danger. The other half of my brain, which won the internal argument, decided that until the situation clarified itself, there was little that I could do to reduce the danger and I might as well enjoy what might be one of my last opportunities to chase the Snitch. Wood was progressing very rapidly. I had to repeatedly warn him of the dangers of getting mixed up in the scrum occurring below the altitude at which we searched for the Snitch. Most times he spotted the snitch before I did - he really had amazingly good eyesight. I got to the Snitch before he did, but that might have been because I had the better broom. Toward the end of practice, we traded brooms and his pursuit of the Snitch improved.

The rest of the team was practicing gang-rushing the goal posts, with either Kitten or Kevin Peakes defending them. Both Kitten and Kevin appeared to be having a lot of difficulty when the Chasers passed the Quaffle as they raced at the rings. Kevin, in particular, almost always found himself defending the ring being charged by the Chaser who no longer had the Quaffle. Kitten was only a little better. Ron kept encouraging them to trust their horizontal mobility and not commit too soon to defense of a particular ring. As I left the field with Ron, I didn't know whether either of our Keepers could shape up by Saturday.

Jimmy drew Ron and me aside as the team left the field, thanking us for working with the younger students, but also commenting that "your secret weapon is really awesome. Pavel is a great teacher. We'll practice again tomorrow afternoon, but I think we're going to make a good team. It feels good to be part of Hogwarts' defense squad."

Harry was off to the Ministry right after breakfast, and I again took notes for him. I didn't see him until dinner, telling Jimmy to please move to a different seat, as soon as I saw Harry enter the Great Hall in what looked like a state of high agitation.

"The Goblins freed the Montaignes," were the first words out of Harry's mouth. "The aurors were overwhelmed by close to a hundred of Ruppasta's Goblins. They just fired a few curses and then apparated to safety. They think they killed two of the attacking Goblins, but the Montaignes are gone. The theory is that the Goblins 'kidnapped' them, allowing them to escape without actually escaping and not triggering the consequences of breaking the Unbreakable Vows which each of them took. We don't know what actions they will be able to undertake voluntarily without being killed by the Unbreakable Vows. The caverns have all been reinforced and Montaigne Castle is now defended by alarm spells and several very large bombs. Cissy definitely should not return to the castle."

I asked Harry if I should skip my Quidditch practice. He said the danger likely wasn't quite that imminent and I should enjoy a final happy fly, but that he would warn the special weapon teams that they should not actually practice fire the curse anymore. They needed to save their strength for the real thing. Since I was going right to practice from dinner and Harry had to warn Cissy and the others, we ignored Professor McGonagall's strictures on public displays of affection and had a fairly good snog standing beside our table, in full view of the staff table and the Gryffindor first years. Before McGonagall could rouse herself to object, we had broken our clinch and I was off to the Quidditch pitch.

We had another very good practice. Kitten and young Wood were both improving much faster than Jimmy's brother, and both of the Peakes seemed to realize this. Kevin told me "I know that I'm going to be replaced, but I'll at least get to start the next game. I'm going to try for a really good five minutes or so."

Harry was gone before I went down to breakfast. I was a very diligent note taker in the classes that we shared. Most of the morning was a long Advanced Divination class. Professor Firenze told us that he was preparing a sand painting of a Yantra, which he might require to get the universe and the local magic back into tune. He said that ideally he would perform this task in either the Sacred Cavern or its Reception Hall, but that as these areas seemed increasingly destined to host a major battle during the coming days, he had been required to seek out an alternative site. He apparated the class, which was reduced to ten members with Harry gone, underground, and we walked to what I recognized as the top of the underground pyramid. The students stood on the upper steps as Firenze continued his sand drawing on the flat top surface. "This is as good a flat surface close to the Sacred Chamber as I could think of. I've been at work on this for a day. A Centaur Yantra is similar to both a Hindu Yantra and a Buddhist Mandala, but ours is the original magical creation, from which the Muggles copied. I'm drawing my Yantra using the traditional magical sands, produced by the wearing away of the stones and crystals of very ancient circles which are no longer active.

"My sand comes from the original Hogwarts Circle and from one of the Stonehenge rocks. The pink sand and the flat shiny grey sand are from the rose granite cylinders of the Hogwarts circle. The white is from the alabaster cylinders from that circle. The dark grey is from the lodestone in the center of that circle and the fine medium grey is from Stonehenge. The important thing is that each grain of sand was once part of an active magical circle and has experienced a high concentration of magical energy over centuries of its existence. Even after all of these years, the little crystals maintain a trace of that imprinting.

"The outer circle of my Yantra represents the boundary of our universe, with its four gates representing the entry of the Centaurs, Unicorns, Goblins, and Wizards to do their part in restoring magical stability. The inner circles show the even manner in which the lines of magic are supposed to interact, without smudging and interfering. The triangles are the significant stars, which must be moved to the proper spots to unblock the flow of time through the cosmic pinch point, which I showed you in the night sky over Iona. The inner square, again with its four gates, represents the Sacred Cavern, with the inner circles representing the Circle in that cavern. The star in the center is where the Light Guardian is called to rectify the Circle, if we should fail. The little square inside the big inner square is the landing zone to be commanded by the Messenger Elf."

Firenze continued to lay sand as he spoke to us. We watched him for several hours as he explained the intricacies of his representation and showed us the braided points in the circles, where the magical force lines had improperly crossed. Those spots on the Yantra would need to be anointed with Unicorn blood and tears to properly lubricate and energize the alignment of the force lines and the sand. Activating the Yantra would require the insertion of two unicorn horns in the precise position that he pointed out to us and finally the spilling of his own blood onto the drawing. Firenze intimated that the time was close at hand when the drawing would be needed. He said that he would continue work on his drawing and asked Hermione and me to apparate the other students back to the pocket inside the fence. There were a lot of stiff backs from standing on the stone steps, but also a lot of excited chatter as we walked from the fence pocket to the Great Hall for lunch.

I was cheered to see that Harry had returned for lunch. "There's still a lot of excitement at the Ministry, but really nothing more that I can do at the moment. After sticking it to Gringotts a little more than the Minister and I had intended on the terms of the charter renewal, the Wizengamot decided that it was urgent to propitiate the Goblins, lest the problems with Ruppasta spin out of control. The Wizengamot gave its blessing to my proposed Goblin Sanctuary this morning, and King Goblanze already held a celebration ceremony at the bank. I've just come from there. The Goblins who have stayed loyal to the King seem really pleased that he was able to pull this off so quickly. Whether to make sure the Sanctuary is really true, or to guard their plot of land and the back door into Hogwarts, fifty young Goblins have gone off to occupy the cave on their sanctuary land and stake the Goblin claim to the Sanctuary."

I told Harry about all that Firenze had told us in class. "It's strange," Harry responded "that nobody ever mentioned an original magical cavern at Hogwarts. We should explore and guard that cavern. It could well be the target of an attack by Ruppasta. I'm off to visit Firenze at the pyramid. I guess you'll have to continue taking notes for me." Under McGonagall's glare, I gave Harry a very brief peck on the mouth before he set off for the pyramid. With McGonagall's history class in half an hour, I wasn't eager to anger her in advance of my arrival.

I sat between Cissy and Hermione in history class, shrugging my shoulders in response to a look from Professor McGonagall, which I interpreted as "where's Harry?" Harry showed up halfway through class and must have sat at the very back of the room, because I only learned of his presence when McGonagall interrupted her lecture to comment "how nice of you to finally join us, Mr. Potter."

I was out of my seat as soon as the lecture ended, both to avoid McGonagall and to catch up with Harry before he vanished again. We all had a free period, so we headed back to our common room. "Firenze told me about the original Hogwarts Circle. Nobody showed it to us, because the stones and crystals were removed a very long time ago. Some are even incorporated into the current Circle in the Sacred Cavern, but most were removed to storage caves and reworked over the centuries. Firenze confirms that although his sand has been handed down through many generations of Centaurs, the stones from which it was made still exist. Most of them are in the Aragog cave in the forest. As far as Firenze knows, they are the last remaining stones and crystals from the original circle. That circle was believed to be about 5000 years old. It was dismantled over two thousand years ago. He said there are conflicting accounts concerning the location of the original cavern. As we chatted and compared notes, we agreed that the likeliest location of that cavern is the present Chamber of Secrets, although possibly the more prosaic Goblin utility cavern or even the entry cave that the Goblins are now guarding might also be possible locations.

I described the Chamber of Secrets in detail, including the path leading to the cave on the hillside and the paths from the pyramid and from the Moaning Myrtle bathroom. "Firenze then concluded that the Chamber of Secrets matched the ancient stories and must be the location of the original Circle. He wants to explore it after the current excitement is over."

Harry wanted to check in on the Reception Hall, so we unbarricaded the arch entrance from our Common Room to the network of pyramid pathways and apparated from the vestibule. Bane had half a dozen Centaurs with him, saying he had to maintain a security presence, in case Firenze needed to return. Harry told him where Firenze was and what he was up to. Bane immediately decided to take a guard force to the pyramid to protect Firenze. Before he left, he told Harry that the number of Goblins and their degree of agitation had both increased, but that there had been no untoward activity. Judging from the large pile of hay in the corner of the Reception Hall, the Centaurs planned to sleep in the Hall.

The rest of the week crept by with an air of complete unreality. Life went on in an almost normal fashion in a period of quiet before the storms of war, which I think we all felt were coming. I ate, went to class, practiced Quidditch, saw a little less of Harry than I wanted, but lived the life of a normal Hogwarts student, rather than the frenzied pursuit of new experiences and pleasures that I would have expected of myself, with the timer on my life ticking down to its final weeks or days. I seemed lacking in the will or energy to do something dramatically different. Was there no place that I was desperate to see, before I died?

Mrs. Granger had not found my state of mind to her liking, saying I was not as fine as I declared myself to be and was suffering from what the Muggles once called 'shell shock'. Taking my belief that I had only weeks to live as a theoretical starting point for analysis, she asked, "Isn't there a list of last things that you want to do in the weeks ahead?" I said I was looking forward to my Quidditch practices, as many snogs with Harry as possible, and a big hug from Mom. That was it. I had stopped battling Headmaster McGonagall, more because it just seemed a pointless waste of energy than because I felt we had resolved our issues and reached a true truce.

We all had done as much preparation as we could think of to position ourselves for the battles to come. We had even stashed food, water, and Muggle bombs in the Room of Requirement, the landing inside the Gryffindor archway, and at George's shop in Hogsmeade. We laid in a good supply of Weasley novelties, potions, Weasley invisibility cloaks, and even spare wands. The Joan armor was now in Margaret's bedroom. We had all taken to carrying our brooms with us to classes and meals. We had a good supply of fuel for the emergency generator and extra cell phones, so that I now had my own, although, like the others, I had been told to use it only in dire emergency. Neville had taken to wearing the Sword of Gryffindor. Dumbledore's Army was on alert and we had recruited a dozen new students to our cause. Our call signal galleons were always on our persons. Harry spent more time at the Ministry than usual, but that had led to more fretting than action.

The Ministry had no solid leads on the whereabouts of Thickness, Barty Crouch, or the Montaignes. Searches were conducted and aurors scanned faces in the communities where they were thought most likely to go to ground. They likely were disguising themselves with Polyjuice Potion. The Muggle Prime Minister had long since been alerted, but there was little he could do, apart from asking the police to look for Thicknesse and Crouch on suspicion of murder and seditious activities. They couldn't help us find the Montaignes, since they had told the world of their deaths. We planned and we guarded and we worried, but, in truth, there was little we could do but await the next actions of our opponents. The most important places to be guarded were guarded by King Goblanze's Goblins, and he kept insisting that he could maintain better control of his Goblins and these sites if Wizards remained scarce. Bane's Centaurs were accepted with great reluctance, because Bane insisted that the Centaurs be present as a matter of honor. There was no disguising the Goblins' pleasure when a third of the Centaurs were sent to guard Firenze and another third to guard the Aragog cave.

Break, break, break, break

If you have sensed that we are approaching the end of Part II, you are correct.


	87. Chapter 87

**Chapter Eighty-Seven – Ruppasta Attacks**

Saturday morning dawned crisp but clear and I insisted upon leading Harry on a quick trip around the grounds to check the weather, wind direction, and sun intensity, prior to setting off for breakfast. Given the state of the world, I found myself in a remarkably good mood as I anticipated my match. I could tell that my cheery spirits were not piercing Harry's gloom and might even be annoying him a trifle. Adjusting myself a bit to his mood, but not allowing him to deflate my spirits in the slightest, I allowed our breakfast conversation to center more upon the parlous state of current events than upon Quidditch or how much I had missed him the past several days. Listening to Harry with half my attention, I learned that the Ministry had gained entry to Delores Umbridge's old house and caught two minor Death Eater recruits, whom they succeeded in arresting.

It appeared as though Thicknesse had spent some time sheltering there, but the articles discovered in the house gave no clue of his current location. There had been some initial hope that the two captives would morph into Thicknesse and Barty Crouch, if sufficient time were given for Polyjuice to wear off, but that didn't happen. I also learned that the French had achieved a partial balancing of the Paris Circle, with a slight increase in magical powers. A rear guard of saboteurs among the Paris Goblins had been captured, and apparently executed. The Continentals were a bit blood thirstier than we Brits, with Shacklebolt and Ron, perhaps, being exceptions. I admit that it did weigh on my mind a bit knowing that Hermione and I were the only ones who knew for certain that Ron had used the 'Kill!' in combat. Mom suspected, but Ron had promised me that he would not tell Harry or Mom, or the others about this.

Cissy had other bad news for us. She had returned to Castle Montaigne to make certain that the staff had things well in hand and to collect a few more of her things and make sure that all the Montaigne financial records were safe from prying eyes. She had found a stack of mail, which had taken her two hours to dispense with and which had borne some distressing news. The stack included a legal letter from Shark and Fine, Solicitors, indicating that the Greenwoods Development Group was advancing on their end of the deal and needed only to get the necessary environmental approvals, before they would be ready to close the deal on their purchase of Castle Montaigne, the sawmill, and the surrounding land. "That is the first I've heard of this", Cissy told us. "Father never breathed a word about any possible sale of the estate. He must have acted between Bruce's trial dates. I realize that this greatly jeopardizes Hogwarts and the forest Sanctuary, but I'm not sure what I can do to put a stop to it. You can be assured that I'll do whatever I can. I don't want to sell the Castle and I take my responsibilities as Keeper to defend the Sanctuary most seriously. I'd starve before I sold that land."

Harry's first comment was, "I distinctly remember warning you that we had planted bombs at the castle and that you should stay away. You should have kept your staff away, as well. One is a really big bomb. You could all have been killed."

He then changed topic, assuring Cissy "I'll discuss the problem with the pending sale of the estate with the Minister later today. We may be able to fix this by meeting with the Muggle Prime Minister. I think he likes me, although I'll phone him, rather than just popping in. He should be able to block the environmental approvals, somehow, although I don't begin to understand Muggle rules."

As breakfast was concluding, I succeeded in diverting Harry's mind to Quidditch and any helpful hints he had to help me with my plan to catch the Snitch out of the box. He said it is not something he would have even attempted, but that since I had come so close on the last match, it made sense to try again. His only pointers were to be careful not to overshoot the Snitch and to keep both hands on my broom, until the very last possible second, to be able to make as quick a turn as possible. He said I must catch the snitch with both hands, if possible, but be prepared for a catch with either single hand. He warned me that the snitch might decide to double back toward the ground to force me to overshoot it. If it did so, I might square up and block it with my body, catching it on the rebound.

I got up from breakfast, gave Harry a wholly appropriate hug and quick snog and then left with my teammates to prepare for our match. I could tell that Kevin was working himself into a state as Ron had done when he played his first game as Keeper. I told him to calm down, that he just had to remember what Ron had taught him and hold it together for five minutes. I gave him a wink, saying "less than that if my plan works." I was surprised how calm young Wood appeared to be. He was his normal quiet self, but he wasn't trembling at all and his face bore a look of what I would term determined resolve. I gave him a 'good doggy' pat on the head as I passed him on my way to the field, knowing he would start the game on the bench.

I was intensely focused on Madam Hooch's hand as she released the Snitch and blew her whistle. I didn't want to give the Snitch a head start, but I also didn't want her to flag me for a false start. I waited until I heard the whistle tweet, rather than just watching her start to blow, then rocketed after the Snitch as fast as I could, both hands tightly clasping the front of my broom and ready to swerve in any direction. Since the Snitch could climb at a steeper angle than I could on my broom, I was forced to shoot out beneath it at a forty-five degree angle and then bank back as steeply as I could. The trick would be not losing sight of the Snitch as I doubled back on it. I saw it straight ahead of me and perhaps three feet above me. I zoomed after it, on a course to run it down within a few seconds. It suddenly doubled back, turning to my left and down. I turned slower than it did, accelerating to let it come to me. I got both hands out almost in front of me, but the snitch sailed through them, before I could close the trap. Following Harry's advice, I waited for the snitch to carom off my chest, continuing to fly straight and looking for it on the slow rebound. It hurt as it bounced off me, but I kept my eye on it and grabbed it in both hands as it bounded off slowly in a path that would have taken it lazily over my left shoulder. I secured it firmly in my left hand, and put my right hand back on my broom to come in for a landing. As soon as I touched ground, I raised my left hand, with Snitch, triumphantly and displayed the snitch to the crowd and Madam Hooch.

The match was over in twenty-nine seconds, which was how long it took Madam Hooch to realize that I had actually captured the Snitch. I was surprised to learn that this had been enough time for the Ravenclaw Chasers to get the Quaffle past Kevin and into the right-hand ring. Still, we had won and I had made a place for myself in Hogwarts' Quidditch history.

Harry was quickly down on the field to congratulate me and give me a big snog, which brought a roar of approval from the Gryffindors. I was surprised to look up from Harry and see Gwennog Jones smiling down at me. "That is the most amazing thing that I've ever seen. I heard the tale of that feat being accomplished once before, but I never believed the story was true. Now I've seen it for myself. Great play, girl!"

"I think I owe the achievement in good measure to the improvement in brooms."

My teammates found holes between Harry and Gwennog to pound me on the back and extend their congratulations. To general whoops from ourselves and our fans, we hustled off the field to change back into our robes. I wanted to get back to the Common Room quickly, because Harry had said at breakfast that he needed to return to the Ministry almost immediately after the match.

I participated in the first part of the general revelry in the Gryffindor common room, then went off to a corner with Harry for private congratulations. As before, our celebration was interrupted by a knock at our entry and the appearance of McGonagall, Hooch, and another protesting rival Captain. "I must inform you all," Professor McGonagall announced above the din, being interrupted by a late whistle from Madam Hooch, "that Miss Parker of the Ravenclaw team has filed a protest that Miss Weasley left the ground before Madam Hooch blew her whistle."

"No, I didn't," I replied. "I focused very intently for the whistle sound and did not start my takeoff until I heard it."

"I was watching her especially closely," Madam Hooch replied, "because I suspected that she might try to catch the Snitch out of the basket a second time. She very clearly waited for the whistle. Since I was specifically watching for a false start, I couldn't possibly have missed one."

"Does Ravenclaw have any evidence of a false start?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Well, I was looking right at Ginny and our Seeker, Melissa, and Ginny was most definitely off the ground, before Melissa took off."

"But, are you sure she took off before the whistle? Players don't usually try to take off at the first sound of the whistle. They tend to search for the Bludger, don't they, especially Chasers, like yourself? Were you timing your lift off for the precise instant that the whistle blew. I recall you lazily drifting up, with the rest of your team, while Miss Weasley shot ahead."

"No, I wasn't, but Melissa will tell you that she took off the instant the whistle sounded."

"Well, Madam Hooch was watching and listening carefully, and you were not. I'm not happy with every single match being protested. I'm going to deny your protest. Thank you all, the Gryffindor victory will stand." Professor McGonagall led her entourage out of our common room and we resumed our celebration.

I asked Harry how long he could stay and he replied "about an hour. You finished that match a lot faster than I had budgeted for. If you can separate yourself from your fans, we could head off to my office for some constituent service." I certainly did not require any further urging.

Harry wasn't back at the start of dinner, but we had another visitor from the Ministry. Shacklebolt walked up to our table, apologizing that he had absolutely no desire to be here, but "Madam Bones says she has to at least conduct a preliminary investigation of the charges that Ron illegally used a prohibited curse during the fight in Diagon Alley. I told her that there was no evidence to substantiate the charge and besides, even if he did do it, under the circumstances I saw zero chance that he would be convicted, so it's a giant waste of time during a time of crisis. Anyway, I've been instructed that I must collect your wand for examination. I'm sorry, just let me have it son. Better get another one pronto: this isn't the time to be caught wandless."

Ron frowned, but handed over his wand. Shacklebolt apologized again and beat a hasty retreat. Harry returned in time for dessert. Ron immediately jumped him with the story of his wand being seized. "I know," Harry replied. "I was forced to submit to an interview with Madam Bones in the presence of truth tellers. I can't believe she would stir up this mess at a time like this. At first, she accused me of using an 'Avada Kedavra' curse on the Death Eaters. When I vehemently denied doing that, she switched direction and said that I must know who did use that curse. She said she had determined to her satisfaction that the Death Eaters weren't killed by one of the aurors. She then suggested that you were the guilty party. I told her that I knew absolutely nothing about your use of any illegal curses during our fight in Diagon Alley. She said that somebody clearly killed the two Death Eaters. I told her that I wasn't sorry that they were dead, given the rate at which prisoners keep escaping and rejoining the fight, but that I had no idea how they became dead. I only used 'protego' spells and didn't hear any illegal curses from our side. I told her there were at least a dozen people firing curses at them from every direction, and that whoever killed them saved the lives of several aurors. One auror was still an inch from being killed, and the Death Eaters even had a big bomb with them.

"I told her we were at war, including with the remnants of the Death Eaters, and asked her if this was the best thing she could find to occupy her time. I asked her what things had come to if she didn't think innocent Wizards were permitted to defend themselves in kind when assaulted by masked Death Eaters. I told her that I had heard plenty of 'Avada Kedavras' during the battle, but that they all came from the Death Eaters. I asked if that particular curse was reserved to them, alone. She didn't like to hear that, but when the truth tellers told her that everything that I had said was true, she told me that I could go. She said she'd get your wand and test it. She assured me that she viewed this whole matter as being quite as distasteful as I did, but that when a quarter of the members of the Wizengamot lodged a formal objection, she was compelled to do her job and conduct an honest investigation. I told her that her investigation seemed anything but honest and that it was more than a little strange that none of the captured Death Eaters had been tried as yet. Perhaps I shouldn't have, but I dared her to roll up her sleeve. She doesn't have the mark, by the way. That's partly why I returned this early. I had hoped to give you a heads up."

I pointedly did not say a word. Hermione only said, "I'm giving Ron the Gryffindor wand to use until his is returned or he can get a duplicate from Ollivander. I agree with Shacklebolt, I don't like the idea of Ron not having a wand for protection."

"Two things everybody should know," Harry told our group, when we were alone in our Common Room. "There is a new secret in the Chamber of Secrets. You don't want to be going there or venturing too far into the tunnel from the back door cave entrance to Hogwarts. In addition to Montaigne Castle being alarmed and harboring a bomb, we've also booby-tracked the rail tunnel from the Castle to the Reception Hall. We can't be sure that the Montaignes don't have another entrance to that tunnel. Also, Cissy, you should know that the Minister and I phoned the Muggle Prime Minister and he will do whatever he can to scuttle the sale of your estate. He can't legally forbid the sale, and feels that the buyers might well be able to legally compel you to sign the final papers, since your father agreed the terms of sale. He said, however, that with enough environmental restrictions and delay, it would be the buyers who would back out of the contract. He's trying to think of a military requirement for the land, if all else fails."

"You can't imagine how great a relief it is to hear that," Cissy informed us.

Sunday breakfast brought a controversy in the papers, each of which had learned of the investigation regarding the deaths of the two Death Eaters in Diagon Alley. I confess to still enjoying and sometimes getting an immense chuckle from the dueling headlines. Most of the Daily Prophet headlines were predictable:

**Can the Minister's Children Break the Law at Will? **

**Harry Potter Cleared of Murder**

**Did Ronald Weasley Use an Illegal Curse to Slay Wizards in Diagon Alley **

**Opposition Charges On-Going Persecution of Frakes Family**

Further into the paper, on the third page was a very reasonable article by Ernie, in answer to the rhetorical question that he posed to himself:

**Are Lawful Wizards To Be Prevented From Defending Themselves Against Death Eaters' Unlawful Curses?**

He gave a history of the misdeeds of the Frakes and asked, "Why would the opposition have so much sympathy for their unlawful behavior? Weren't these same Wizards demanding immediate action to stop just the sort of Diagon Alley bombing that the Frakes boys were engaged in when they assaulted a team of aurors? Was there any question that they had been the first to hurl illegal curses? Was there any doubt of the deadly intent on the part of Rowle? Just how many innocent Wizards had he murdered in his career as a Death Eater? Wasn't he the guy identified as the bomber in an earlier attack on Diagon Alley?"

Ernie proceeded to quote the opposition leader's call at the time for 'instant action' and his castigation of the Weasley government as 'too weak to protect Wizard merchants.' "Might we not legitimately ask," Ernie queried himself, "if the Death Eater bombers weren't actually doing the work of the opposition leader? Does he think the attackers should have been politely requested to refrain from their violent behavior? Is it a bad thing for a private citizen to come to the defense of aurors, whom are being killed by Death Eater bombers? Would the opposition leader prefer to have seen four dead aurors and another big hole in Diagon Alley? Is that the campaign issue he was hoping for?"

I was surprised that Barnabas had allowed Ernie's article to be printed.

Mr. Lovegood took an aggressive tack in his headlines:

**Wizengamot Opposition Wants Death Eater Bombers Treated Gently **

**Guilty of Protecting Our Aurors? **

**Does the Opposition Pine For the Era of Voldemort?**

**Does Gamot Zabini Also Seek Prosecution For Those Who Killed Death Eaters in Battle of Hogwarts? **

**Should We Prosecute Harry Potter for Death of Voldemort?**

**TRAITOR ZABINI! - Read Full Details of His Amazing Career**

The main article was a detailed history of the current opposition spokesperson, Marcus Zabini, a sixty-year old member of the Wizengamot and father of Blaise. Mr. Lovegood called Marcus "a Death Eater in all but the mark – a committed, but timid soul who prefers to root on his masked friends from the sidelines, while creating legal obstacles in the way of those who would oppose them." The article detailed his loyal support of the Thicknesse administration and all the votes he cast in the Wizengamot in support of the Voldemort faction prior to their takeover of the Ministry. He was described as one of the key mentors and protectors over the years of the unlamented Delores Umbridge.

We were still reading the papers, and had finished our meals, when Harry's cell phone rang. Harry listened for a few moments, then answered "yes, Sir, I'll take care of it," before excusing himself to talk to Professor McGonagall, Narcissa, and Draco. Harry soon returned to the table to report, "the wedding's off for today. Either that, or it has to be a very private affair here at Hogwarts. The Minister says things are far too dangerous for a large group of Hogwarts students to head into Godric's Hollow. Draco and Pansy are debating whether to reschedule the wedding or have a much smaller affair here. Neither the Minister nor the Headmaster want a lot of wedding guests coming to Hogwarts today. Lucius, Pansy's parents, and Millicent Bullstrode will be transported here, if there is to be a wedding, but that's it. They have to decide within the hour if they want to make the wedding happen today."

My Quidditch match was scheduled for 2:00 P.M. so I hoped that if there was to be a wedding, it would be over by then. It took only half an hour for Pansy to decide that there would be a wedding. It was scheduled for 11:00 A.M. and arrangements were immediately made for the transport of the few guests who would be coming to Hogwarts. Harry relayed this information to Dad, using his cell phone. A half hour later, Harry received a return call that Lucius did not wish to attend his son's wedding. Fortunately for Draco and Pansy, they had their wedding attire with them at Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall promised that the Hogwarts Elves were well up to the challenge of providing the food for a wedding reception at lunch. The only remaining question was who would officiate at the wedding service. The only available candidates were Harry or the Headmaster. Draco and Pansy (presumably against Narcissa's wishes, as I saw a little heated conversation between Draco and his mother) chose Harry to perform the service.

As Deputy Minister, Harry was fully authorized to perform a wedding, but this would be his first. He went right from breakfast to his office to bone up on the procedure from an official book that described the protocol and intricacies of all manner of official duties. The book had been a gift from Percy. Harry reappeared at 9:30 and he and I set off to find McGonagall, Pansy, and the Malfoys to finalize details for the wedding and reception.

Harry explained that he had studied the appropriate ceremony and that it would have to be civil, rather than religious, although perhaps Professor Trelawney could say a few words, to provide the religious context that protocol barred Harry from providing. The Malfoys thought that an excellent suggestion and McGonagall seemed pleased. The wedding would be outdoors, on the lawn in front of the main entrance to the castle. The reception would be in the Great Hall. That hall was already being decorated. All seemed well in hand for the big event. The Parkinsons and Millicent Bullstrode had arrived, so we were assured of someone to walk the bride down the aisle and one bridesmaid.

The bride wore white, the groom a dark-blue tux, Millicent a silver gown with a pink sash and the bride's father had a black tux. Harry wore his Ministry formal robes. The ceremony was quick, which was a blessing since, in the absence of seating, the whole student body stood on the lawn. Harry performed his duties flawlessly, pronouncing the happy couple 'husband and wife' and declaring 'you may snog the bride.' Draco promised to stay with Pansy and support her, 'by whatever means necessary in the face of my father's petulance'. Pansy promised to be the best, most loyal wife that Draco could wish for and to give him many children. Professor Trelawney gave a short but meaningful address on the history and importance of Wizard marriages and on the expectation of permanence in such formal relationships."

I congratulated the bride, the groom, Harry, and Professor Trelawney on their exemplary performances. A moment later, the whole student body moved into the Great Hall for the wedding reception. There were not a lot of wedding presents. Professor McGonagall supplied the big one – a Hogwarts key to the happy couple's own apartment in the castle. Pansy's parents gave them a hundred gold galleons; Narcissa gave them three hundred. Harry gave Draco a thin gift-wrapped box, about eighteen-inches square, with the instructions "don't open this until you are alone in your apartment. It's in case you ever need some leverage over your father, or a start on unscrambling his business dealings."

The reception lunch was very tasty, although I didn't eat as much as I normally would, not wanting to make myself sluggish upon my broom. The match was only an hour away when the lunch ended. I took dessert to eat after the match.

As we entered the Quidditch field and I lined up next to Madam Hooch, the shameless thought went through my head that it would be a neat trick to grab the Snitch out of the box for the second game in a row. I again focused hard on Madam Hooch's hand, timing my launch with exquisite precision at the first note from her whistle, while maintaining a visual track on the snitch. This was becoming second nature to me. I quickly closed to within about five feet of the snitch, tightly grasping my broom as I awaited the snitch's evasive move. This time it moved away from me and to my right, without halting its rate of climb. I shifted my weight and peeled off to the right, centering my chest on the Snitch, which was now just three feet dead ahead of me. I leaned forward to put on as much speed as possible and then began to straighten up, so I could reach for the snitch, when Jimmy Jones rammed the tail end of my broom, turning me off course to the left and leaving me flying upside down. I had no choice but to slow down and lose a little altitude as I righted myself on my broom.

By this time Jimmy Jones was racing skyward in pursuit of the Snitch. He missed it and I started climbing to altitude to search for it. I saw it at the same time as Jimmy. It was between us and climbing for altitude at its top speed. I raced after it, but my broom wouldn't go any faster and then started behaving awkwardly. I pulled up the leading edge of my broom, but just couldn't gain any speed. "Jimmy!" I shouted. "We have to land now. The magic is dying. In another minute, we'll crash. Land now!"

"You can't fool me, the Snitch is mine," he screamed back at me as he coaxed his broom to go a bit higher. He was ahead of me, so I didn't chase him. Instead, I zoomed down to Madam Hooch, landing beside her.

"Get the players back on the ground. The magic is failing, you have to stop the game and get the players on the ground right away!" When she hesitated, I shouted, "This isn't a trick, anyone still in the air a minute from now is going to die."

Madam Hooch blew her whistle shrilly and repeatedly, signaling for the players to land. It took a while, but most finally saw her and started in to land. Jimmy just kept chasing, and finally caught, the Snitch, He was four hundred feet in the air as the last of the other players touched down on shaky brooms. They all wore extremely puzzled expressions. Meanwhile, up above us, Jimmy was losing control of his broom and doing his best to lower his altitude in lazy loops. The nose of his broom suddenly dipped down, when he was at about two hundred feet. He lost his hold, tumbling toward the ground. "Everyone use your wands to break his fall!" I screamed at the players. I saw Harry and McGonagall urging those in the stands to do the same. We partially arrested his fall, but he still landed with a loud thud.

Madam Pomphrey rushed out of the stands, took one look at Jimmy and said she had to quickly get him to the infirmary. "There's no time," I told her. "The magic is dying. By the time you reach the infirmary, there may not be enough magic left to save him. You'll have to work on him here."

She drew her wand and began ministering to Jimmy, looking a bit doubtful at the success she was having. "Here," I said, shoving my assistant Keeper ring onto the end of her wand. "This may amplify your power for a few minutes."

She got back to work and seemed happier with the results she was achieving. After several minutes, she stopped, saying "I've done everything that I can for him here. Now we really do need to move him so that I can use my healing potions."

Half a dozen Hufflepuff boys gently carried him off the field and toward the castle, trailed by a worried looking Madam Pomphrey. As she passed me, she handed me my ring, with a mouthed silent 'thank you'. Then they were all gone.

Harry had dialed the Ministry on his cell phone and chatted with Percy as we walked back to the castle. I heard him say "Tell Shacklebolt that we're going to the Reception Hall in force. We'll have to walk, can't trust apparating."

We collected our gang in the common room. Neville said he would come with our first group, but that "Cissy has already gone ahead. Margaret is getting into her armor and will follow you down with George and Luna."

Harry opened the archway door, just before I opened the Common Room portal to admit Gabrielle, her partner, and Pavel. Harry instructed "Pavel and Jimmy are with us, Gabrielle and Letitia can wait for Margaret." Mom was already in the Common Room, so our group made its way along the stairs and tunnels to the Reception Hall. I saw that Neville had armed himself with the Sword of Gryffindor.

**Original text**

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	88. Chapter 88

**Chapter Eighty-Eight – The Battle of the Reception Hall**

As we hurried down the stairs, trying to avoid falling on the steep stone steps, Harry brought us up to date: "the Ministry doesn't think the Hogwarts Circle has been shut down. The main Gringotts' Circle was invaded by Ruppasta's Goblins. They very briefly shared control of the Cavern and used that time to throw the Gringotts' Circle badly out of balance. They cut the silver threads joining several of the crystals in the Circle. That is messing with the original London Circle and also our Circle. Ruppasta's Goblins were driven out by the King's forces, with many of the attackers being injured or captured. Two were even killed, which is not common for Goblin on Goblin fighting.

The remaining members of the attacking party captured hostages, including several members of the Wizengamot, who were attending a meeting with the Chairman, and one Wizard customer. The Chairman escaped, but nobody knows where he is. About two dozen of Ruppasta's Goblins and the hostages are in the Chairman's dining room at the bank. The Ministry thinks Ruppasta has shifted his attention to the Hogwarts Circle."

I was feeling no fear as we approached the broad final set of stairs down to the Reception Hall. I was prepared to fight and I had Harry by my side. I was concerned what tactics would be available to us, since the magic was faltering and unreliable. Ordinary curses might not work and the secret weapon might be a lot more dangerous to its users with the magical lines of force so unstable and interfering with each other. Whatever would happen would happen. Perhaps I'd be reduced to fighting with my fists, and biting and gouging my opponents. My final thought as we descended to the Reception Hall was a wish to have a sword like Neville's, or even a fair-sized knife. The punch to Draco's nose was my only experience in fighting without magic, and that had ended is disaster, getting kicked in the head by a weakling like Draco. Fighting with fists, tooth, and claw did not seem promising.

As we came down the steps into the Reception Hall, I saw that there was a melee among the Goblins. I couldn't tell who was on the King's side and who the attackers were. I saw Cissy huddled at the foot of the stairs which we were descending, with her father and brother trying to force their way past a group of Goblins to the entry archway into the Sacred Cavern.

"The Goblins around the Montaignes seem to be guarding them. They must be Ruppasta's men - that's whom we should be attacking, as well as the Montaignes, themselves," I declared to whoever would listen to me.

The Montaigne grouping was halfway across the Hall from us and moving away. There were some Goblins between us and their protective cordon and a little fighting at the fringes of the near group. These Goblins did not move to attack as we pressed forward. They joined ranks around us as a shield, continuing to fight a few of Ruppasta's Goblins on the fringe away from the stairs. As we pressed forward, almost closing with the nearest of Ruppasta's Goblins who were guarding the Montaignes, they turned to face us. I'm not saying Harry is specist, but he did yell "Avada Kedavra". I did also. The Goblins were slightly stunned, but didn't fall, and faced us with curved bronze swords in their hands. They also seemed to be building a magical barrier between us. We and Ron and Hermione continued to fire 'Avada Kedavras', which at least kept the Goblins from advancing on us and seemed to be causing them extreme discomfort.

Neville shouted "move to the side and give me cover", as he moved between Hermione and me. As he passed us, we widened, as did our Goblin shield, and switched to firing the 'Off!' curse at the opposition. This seemed to slow them and their defensive shield looked weaker. Harry called "special weapons at the Goblins on the outer edges."

We knelt at Neville's right, with Ron and Hermione at his left. Harry counted {[intense] aim at the chest of the middle of the three Goblins on the right, one, two, three 'Ex-term-ee-nate'.} If not a lightning bolt, at least a fairly strong spark, shot out from our joined wands. A split second later a second spark lanced out from the position where Ron and Hermione were kneeling.

With the acoustic report of our shots, Neville launched himself forward, swinging the Sword of Gryffindor in wide downward arcs. I saw that we had dropped two of the Goblins whom we had shot at, leaving one looking stunned. The Goblin magical shield was gone and Neville quickly dropped four Goblins where they stood, baring the backs of the Montaignes. Still kneeling on the floor, I fired "Avada Kedavra" into the side of a startled Lord Montaigne, who was turning to face us. He staggered and fell to one knee. Two of his Goblins peeled back to face me. One was instantly cut down by Neville. Harry shouted "Avada Kedavra" at the second, and he took two steps back but stayed upright. Harry and Mom hit the Goblin who had been stunned by our secret weapon attack with simultaneous 'Avada Kedavras' and he slipped to one knee, and then tried to regain his footing. Harry kicked him on the right side of his head and he collapsed.

Neville was slashing furiously at the Goblins, but not giving sufficient care to his own safety. One of his flanks was protected by the armored Margaret, but the other flank and his rear were undefended. In his enthusiasm, he pushed too far forward from our mass. Bill and Barb rushed to his defense, slaying two Goblins who would have otherwise killed him for certain. Another Goblin came at Harry and I shouted "Off!" as Mom shouted "Avada Kedavra" and Harry retreated. Barb stepped back and cut this Goblin down as he continued after Harry.

We were facing off with the few remaining Goblins, when I heard Bruce shout "drop your wands, or I'll kill her." The two sides took a step apart and I saw Bruce with his arm around Hermione's neck and his wand to the back of her head.

"Hold onto your weapons," Harry commanded. "It's a standoff."

Ron looked worried, but kept his wand pointed at the senior Montaigne. Cissy, who hadn't done any fighting at all yet, walked past me to stand next to her brother and Hermione.

"Take her wand," Bruce instructed. "No! Don't just walk around and reach for it. Point your wand at her throat, then reach around."

Bill and Barb were sneaking up on her as Cissy started to do this. Her wand was at the front of Hermione's throat, but as she bent at the waist to reach Hermione's wand hand, her wand slipped off Hermione's throat. "Avada Kedavra", Cissy screamed. I noticed that she had quickly moved her wand to Bruce's forehead.

Her brother loosened his grip on Hermione, who jumped back behind Ron. Cissy also retreated as Bruce stumbled forward, with one knee on the floor. He stretched his arm out toward Hermione and said "Avada …" as Neville swung the Sword of Gryffindor. Bruce's wand hand was cut off at the wrist and he collapsed in place.

Lord Montaigne came charging our way, but without a wand, screaming "Bruce! You've killed Bruce. Cissy, he was your blood, it was your obligation to help him."

"What? Are you crazy?" Cissy responded. As the Lord turned to face her, Ron punched him in the nose and he fell to his knees. Ruppasta's remaining Goblins, looking menacing with swords held high, advanced upon us, but a couple thrusts and a sweep from Neville froze them in place. A hail of arrows from the Centaurs dropped five of the Goblins and then the others were unfrozen and starting to fall back toward the arch, which now was open. Margaret as Joan strode past us, swinging the Joan sword and felling two Goblins. We all surged forward as Neville dropped two more. None of Ruppasta's Goblins made it into the Sacred Cavern before the door closed. An isolated group of about twenty threw down their swords and surrendered to the King's Goblins.

"Fetch Madam Pomphrey at once!" Lord Montaigne commanded. "Bruce's hand can still be magically reattached. You must stop the bleeding before he dies."

Hermione came forward, tore some cloth from the Lord's robes, and used them to bind Bruce's arm and slow the flow of blood. "Keep this tight," she ordered the blubbering Lord "and he may live. We have other wounded to attend to."

As we surveyed the Reception Hall, there were two dozen of Ruppasta's Goblins who had been taken prisoner, and were being guarded by Centaurs and the King's Goblins. I pointed to Bane and Harry led us over to him for a report about what had happened before we entered the Hall.

"Ruppasta showed up with about seventy Goblins and they captured King Goblanze, who was meeting with the Goblins guarding the Reception Hall. The battle was fierce. We Centaurs killed over a dozen attackers with our arrows, while the Goblins used magic and swords to stun or wound a couple dozen Goblins on either side.

"Goblins see combat among themselves as deathless chess. When the victor is apparent, the other side surrenders. Prisoners are treated well. If we were not here, the King's Goblins would simply have surrendered. Our action forced them to fight. That is why I insisted on a Centaur presence in this Hall.

"The invaders made it into the Sacred Chamber, taking the King with them as their prisoner. We were going to storm the Sacred Cavern, but then thirty more of Ruppasta's Goblins apparated into the Reception Hall with the Montaignes and the magic failed. The Montaignes tried to reach the Reception Hall, but my Centaur's and Goblanze's Goblins stopped them, until a dozen or so Goblins came out of the Sacred Cavern to fight for Ruppasta's side. That's when you arrived. We fought a brave fight and lost few of our own, but we lost the Sacred Cavern. Ruppasta sacrificed his forces to gain the Sacred Cavern. Fifty of his Goblins were killed in the Reception Hall and perhaps others died fighting inside the Sacred Cavern. They'll destroy the Circle if we can't recapture the Cavern. But we can't just invade now, or they'll kill the King, as they threatened when they first forced their way into the Cavern, and destroy the Circle. 

"I don't think the problem with the magic relates to anything that's been done to the Hogwarts Circle. Firenze says the main problem is with the universe as a whole - it's out of balance and the strength of magic has been declining for a month. The Unicorns have been feeling the ill effects. Over the past week, their blood hasn't been right. It's starting to turn copper-colored. We need to finish and activate the Yantra as the first step, before we're no longer able to do it."

Bane directed us to stay where we were, in case Ruppasta's Goblins decided to attack the Reception Hall, although I thought it strange that they would do anything as tactically stupid as that. They controlled the Sacred Cavern. Why would they want to come out and battle us where we had the clear advantage? Harry asked Bane what he had in mind, and Bane replied "I'm going to go and fetch several Unicorns. They'll be needed to activate the Yantra: the process requires both their blood and their horns inserted into the Yantra, and unfortunately into Firenze. He is a very wise and brave Seer, a true servant of the Light Guardian."

Hermione reminded us all that she still had the bottles of Unicorn blood from Hagrid's class. Bane said "can't be sure whether stale blood collected when it was still good or their current corrupted blood will work better, but please fetch it. Perhaps a mixture of the two will be best. I'll meet you atop the pyramid in one hour. Firenze had just about finished it when last I spoke to him. What he has will have to do."

"Fine, we'll meet you there in an hour," Harry replied. First, we have to return to Hogwarts and summon Madam Pomphrey to treat the wounded and see if we can retrieve some swords to help in the defense of the Reception Hall. Margaret and Neville are likely our best defenders at the moment and you have a dozen of your archers. That should be enough. If they attack, they have to come through the tunnel."

Harry and I walked back to our common room, still being afraid to attempt to apparate with the weak and tricky magical force lines being disrupted by the sabotage of the Gringotts circle. When we reached the corridor outside the common room, we split up. I went in search of Madam Pomphrey, while Harry went to find swords.

I encountered Professor McGonagall on the way to the infirmary and told her what had happened. She said she would scrounge up some old weapons and join Harry and me in our common room. I ran the rest of the way to the infirmary, catching Madam Pomphrey bending over the cot holding Jimmy Jones. He looked a bit better than when I had last seen him. A quick explanation was all Madam Pomphrey needed to decide what to bring with her. She gave me a large box of bandages to carry, gathering a collection of bundled herbs, potions and ointments to carry herself. We were about to leave when she suddenly shook her head and went back into her storeroom to collect some splints.

We passed a Hufflepuff sixth year on the way and Madam Pomphrey stopped her, giving her a verbal list of fresh herbs to be fetched immediately from the greenhouse and brought to Gryffindor. I told her to fetch Hagrid and the Grangers, as well. She gave me a disgruntled 'I don't have to listen to you look', but Madam Pomphrey told her, "just do it, this is urgent."

Both Harry and Hermione were already in the Common Room when we arrived. Harry had found three swords, while Professor McGonagall had found another sword, a spear, and a mace. The Hogwarts armor was apparently fully disarmed.

McGonagall told the three of us to go on ahead, saying "I'll bring Hagrid, the Grangers, and the herbs. I don't think we'll need the Hufflepuff."

We carried our burdens and led Madam Pomphrey to the Reception Hall. She paused a moment to take in the unexpected scene of carnage and then hurried over to the far right corner, where Neville directed her toward the injured allies of three species. I assisted her in arraying her supplies, while Harry shared out the weapons among the Wizards guarding the Hall. Harry kept a sword for himself. Harry said we had a half hour before we had to meet Bane at the pyramid, so we assisted Madam Pomphrey in treating the wounded. I applied a cleansing solution, then a healing salve, followed by a very large bandage to a Centaur, who had a sword slash on his right flank. Harry treated a Goblin with a bleeding head wound.

Both of our patients seemed highly likely to survive, although Madam Pomphrey warned that in treating battle injuries, infection was always a very serious threat. "Warriors have little interest in the cleanliness of their swords, it is not they who will be cut by them."

Madam Pomphrey was tending to one of the Hogwarts gate aurors, whose left hand was lopped off by a Goblin sword. Harry and I moved on to treat a Goblin with a big slash in his right thigh. Hermione, who had preceded us to the Great Hall, lent us a hand. We cleaned the wound and applied pressure, until Madam Pomphrey replace Hermione and stitched the wound closed. "It's a good thing I didn't throw out my stitching set," she told us. "It comes in handy when the magic occasional fails. Magical failures are usually accompanied by multiple serious injuries."

It was time to join Bane. Harry said he would stay and help with the wounded, sending Hermione and me on ahead. Professor McGonagall and Hagrid were just arriving as we left. When we arrived at the pyramid, I saw that Bane had arrived with three Unicorns. The steps up to the top of the pyramid were very crowded, so Bane had sent the Centaurs who had been guarding Firenze back to the Reception Hall. We passed them on a landing as we were climbing the pyramid steps.

Bane told us, "The Yantra is finished. Now we need to activate it."

Firenze corrected him: "it just needs a few final additions. They're crucial and they won't take long. The loss of the Sacred Cavern and the damage to the Gringotts Circle require adjustments, or else this won't work."

Half an hour later, Firenze pronounced his Yantra to be ready for activation. One of the Unicorns gingerly climbed up to the top of the pyramid, in the little space between the steps and the drawing. The second Unicorn crowded in beside him, but could only fit two of his legs on the pyramid top. Bane produced a ceremonial silver knife and handed it to Firenze, who intoned some sort of blessing, before making a cut on the shoulder of the first Unicorn. He allowed the Unicorn blood, which was certainly looking more coppery than silvery, to pool on the flat side of the knife, and then added some of the blood from Hermione's vial. This addition turned the pool of blood on the knife a silvery color. Firenze carefully carried the knife to a spot near the center of the Yantra and poured it onto the sand drawing. He wiped the knife with a silk cloth and repeated the procedure with the second Unicorn. This time the blood did not turn silver when the addition was made from Hermione's vial. Hermione tried stored blood from a second vial, but that also failed to silver this Unicorn's blood. This Unicorn was just too sick. Bane told Firenze "that likely won't work. You should try again with the third Unicorn."

It took several minutes to rearrange the Unicorns, but when the third Unicorn had been pricked and his blood mixed with the blood from the vial, the mixture turned silver. Firenze added this blood to a second spot near the center of the Yantra. Firenze then presented his own shoulder for the third Unicorn to gore with his horn. The Unicorn pressed gingerly against Firenze once, then twice. Firenze gritted his teeth and threw himself against the Unicorn horn. His shoulder was impaled to a depth of almost an inch. Firenze used the knife to collect some of his own blood and then added this to the drawing, at one of the inner gates of the square. I was surprised when he demanded my arm, but allowed him to grasp my left wrist firmly and make a cut on my forearm. He collected my blood and applied it at a second of the gates of the inner square. He took the vial from Hermione and told her that she would have to go back to the Reception Hall and bring a Goblin. Firenze then collected some more Unicorn blood on the knife, added several drops of stored blood from Hermione's vial and added the silvery mixture to the third gate.

Firenze began a long incantation, which I didn't follow at all. I just sat back and watched him as we all awaited the arrival of the Goblin. Firenze was still chanting when Hermione returned with the Goblin. Firenze quickly added some Goblin blood to the fourth and final gate of the inner square. He chanted for another few minutes and then indicated to the first and third Unicorns the exact point in the Yantra, where they should insert their horns. They did as instructed. Firenze turned to me again, instructing "place your assistant Keeper ring on your wand and insert it in the center of the Yantra, exactly here."

I had to climb up onto Firenze's back to be able to reach that spot, but inserted my wand. Firenze told me that he would say a few lines and then I must say 'itrrrepit kitz beerrrmull', being careful to fully trill all of my rrrs. I listened as Firenze spoke his lines and as he pointed to me, I clearly and loudly pronounced "itrrepit kitz beerrmull".

The Yantra began to glow at the center. It was a strange greenish glow that brightened and deepened as it expanded from the center to fill the entire Yantra. As the glow reached the outer boundary of the Yantra, Firenze shouted something that sounded like "Ella shik marrrst". The glow brightened and expanded to cover the whole top of the pyramid and flow down each of the four ranks of steps. The glow shifted to chartreuse, then to lemon yellow, and then paled to a clear, bright white. It then simply vanished. My eyes had adjusted to the white glow, which bathed everything around us and it now seemed that I was standing in the dark, although the oil lamps that Firenze had set up to guide his sand painting were still glowing. At least I saw they were glowing quite bright about fifteen seconds later, when my vision returned.

Firenze said that we had completed our work here and that he had a class to teach. "The rest," Firenze told us, "is up to Ginny, Hermione, and Harry. I'll know if your efforts are successful. As you may suspect, the three of you need to enter the Sacred Cavern and summon help. Be brave, I will come if I am needed. Don't look so glum, I fully expect that you will all be attending my astronomy class tonight." He said no more, backing down the stairs of the pyramid in the direction of Gryffindor.

"I guess I should help the Unicorns make it back to the forest," Bane told us. "Firenze told me that they must be there when you enter the Sacred Cavern. Wait an hour before you enter. I'll get back to the Reception Hall as quickly as I can."

Hermione and I walked back to the Reception Hall, steeling our nerves a little further with every step that we took. As we approached Harry in the Reception Hall, I was able to relay Firenze's instructions and a summary of our success with the Yantra, with nary a quaver in my voice. Unfortunately, while I was now at the peak of courage, we had nearly an hour to wait before trying to enter the Sacred Cavern. Harry took the time to phone Dad, giving him a further update on our progress. Dad was not at all pleased with the three of us entering the Sacred Cavern, but Harry told him, "There is no other choice. This is our destiny. If we try to fight our way in, Ruppasta will surely destroy the Circle." Harry then listened for several minutes, finally responding "yes, Sir."

"Your Dad says, 'and if you go in, he will surely kill you and then he will destroy the Circle, anyway'. That actually makes complete sense, yet something, and it's not just Firenze or Dumbledore, tells me that I must go in. It seems the right thing to do. I can't even think of a way that this might work out. I do know that there isn't anything that I can do to help the situation at Gringotts or the Ministry. Firenze knows that I have to go in. Dumbledore hinted at it, and I know it. Your Dad thinks Dumbledore instilled some sort of death wish in me and it's still operating. He says 'to go into extreme danger without a plan that you can visualize succeeding is madness or suicide'. He says that if I do it, as he knows I will that I must send you back to Hogwarts."

"I'm not going back to Hogwarts. If you go in, I'm going in. I don't want to live without you, anyway."

"I don't think you should go in. That might be a way to cheat the vision in Trelawney's globe. That particular vision can't come true, unless both of us are in the Cavern. You know that I don't need an assistant inside the cavern for what I'm going to try to do, which is just to delay and try to summon assistance. I might need an assistant outside the Cavern. Put your ring onto your wand and touch the wall to the Cavern. I'll wear my ring. That may be enough to allow us to communicate. I'll summon Baal to stay here and help you assist me from the Reception Hall. Can you accept that approach?"

"Not happily, but I can see that might be one way to thwart Trelawney's vision. It just doesn't seem like a suitable role for a fierce warrior and partner of Harry Potter. I'll at least keep a sword so that Neville, Margaret, and I can cover your back if you have to retreat from the Sacred Cavern, or try to storm it if necessary."

"I'm more expendable than you are. You're the Mother of the Future. There is no guarantee in the prophecies that I'm the father of the future. Perhaps this is the danger point that I have to get you past to guard the future for you and your children. Ron is also charged with guarding the birth and Neville will protect the children when they come to Hogwarts. I'm a Montaigne. Perhaps this is the last time a Montaigne will enter the chamber."

"You have to wait an hour before you can enter the Sacred Cavern, if that is what you actually do," Hermione reminded both of us. "We should use that time wisely to decide upon the best course of action and concoct a plan. Just walking into the Sacred Cavern and being killed by Ruppasta won't accomplish anything of value. Remember, Dumbledore said that if we could not succeed by fighting, he wanted us to escape to America and pick the appropriate time to continue the fight. That advice is as valid now as it was regarding Voldemort. You are the core of the resistance, which Dumbledore wanted to preserve."

Hermione led us to the stone bench in front of the tables with the engraved prophecies. Hermione glanced at the tables to see if the prophecies had changed. She stared at the first stone table and I followed her eyes, quickly determining that the Voldemort prophecy was gone. In its place read:

When Muggle blood mixes with the pure-blooded, red-headed clan, two cousins shall lead the magical folk to new heights, and two Great Families shall be reborn. Many dangers must be overcome for them to be born and they shall surely face hazards as great as their parents and their magical parents' parents. Only the Slayer of the Dark One can guard their birth and only the Conqueror of the Giant Snake can guard their lives, for if one shall die or not be born, surely we all must perish. They cannot be born unless the Slayer of the Dark One finds and conquers the underground mountain chamber of the giant black rock.

"That's a little different than what McGonagall and Trelawney told us," I exclaimed. "Seeing it carved in stone does away with the possibility of your Gran Martine mondegreen, and this prophesy adds a chamber of a giant black rock. There is a black rock in the Sacred Chamber, within the circle, so that could be what the message means, but I wouldn't have called it a giant black rock."

"Neither would I," Hermione replied. "It's a good sized rock, but not a giant." Hermione pulled a transcription of the prophecy, as reported by McGonagall, and read it to us.

"When Muggle blood mixes with the pure-blood, red-headed clan, two cousins shall lead the magical folk to new heights, and two Great Families shall be reborn. Many dangers must be overcome for them to be born and they shall surely face hazards as great as their parents and their magical parents' parents. Only the Slayer of the Dark One can guard their birth and only the Conqueror of the Giant Snake can guard their lives, for if one shall die or not be born, surely we all must perish. They cannot be born unless the Slayer of the Dark One finds and conquers underground mountain."

"Ginny has spotted the only differences," Neville concluded. "The second table has the second Trelawney prophecy. It looks very similar, if not identical, to what I remember Professor Trelawney telling us."

Neville read the prophecy carved into the second table. "Muggle and pure born Witches shall teach the Slayers of the Dark to use the Ancient Mysteries, so the children of the Slayers can lead the magical creatures to the Golden Age. The circle will protect them at the time of their greatest learning. One Witch shall be the Mother of the Future and shall carry a new magic. The wisdom of the other shall light her way."

"It's the same," I told Neville, "except that the Trelawney version had singular 'Slayer of the Dark' and this one has plural 'Slayers of the Dark'. I guess that could mean you and Harry, since you killed Nagini, or it could mean all of you who participated in the destruction of one of the horcruxes."

"More to the point of Harry's self-justifications for walking into the Sacred Cavern to meet his fate," Hermione began, "and the reason I wanted us to stop here and think: the first prophecy seems crystal clear to me in saying Harry will have a child who is included in the prophecy. So, you may never be explicitly called 'Father of the Future', but if you die today, the prophecy of a second golden age for magical creatures certainly seems to go bust. Unless, of course, Ginny is already pregnant. You aren't pregnant, are you?"

I must have given her a look that said that was a really nosy, impertinent question, because she quickly hurried on, "I'm not trying to be overly personal, but you must see how significant my question is to our current predicament."

"Of course I'm not pregnant. I keep telling you that Harry is socially slow in certain regards."

"So then, Harry must survive today, for the prophecies to be fulfilled. Unless, of course, you could become pregnant within the next hour."

"I'm certainly not going to give Harry an excuse to nobly sacrifice himself to Ruppasta. Besides, if this is the underground mountain and the Sacred Cavern is the chamber of the giant black rock, Harry needs to conquer it, not be defeated and die within it. He has to win the fight for the prophecy to be fulfilled. I don't believe he has a plan to win the fight."

"I'm supposed to be the one whose charged by Dumbledore with stopping you from acting rashly and doing stupid things," Neville told Harry. "So, now is the time when I have to ask you to be very specific and tell us what you plan to do and how you see it possibly working out in a successful way. Do you have a plan, Harry?"

"Well, I thought I would use my ring to open the door to the Sacred Cavern and then I would go in and assess the situation and try to get a report out to Ginny, by umm…"

"I think we all know how you and Ginny communicate, Harry," Neville cut in "what we don't know is whether or not you have a sensible plan."

"Then, based upon what I report, Ginny and the rest of you will know what help to bring and whether and how to counterattack, if that is needed. Meanwhile, I'll try to stall and negotiate with Ruppasta. If King Goblanze is still alive, I'll see if I can convince the other Goblins to support him, instead of Ruppasta."

"I think if they were willing to support King Goblanze they wouldn't have joined Ruppasta's rebellion," Neville interrupted again.

"That's probably true, but I should try it. Then, I think I'll try to use my ring to summon the Keeper of the Universe and see if he can help. So, really, I'll need to summon the Messenger Elf, or perhaps Baal will have to do that. That's why I summoned him here to help Ginny. If I can get a message to Ginny, but not to Baal, then Ginny can dispatch Baal to find the Messenger Elf."

"Well, since Baal is right here, let's ask him," Neville again cut Harry off. "Baal, will that work? Can you get a message to the Messenger Elf and will you accept Ginny's direction to do that?"

"Yes, I will summon the Messenger Elf when Ginny asks me to," replied Baal.

"Well, that specific part of your very sketchy plan seems to work," Neville conceded, "provided, that is, that you are able to communicate to either Ginny or Baal from inside the Sacred Chamber with the present debilitated state of the magical force lines. Is there anything more to your plan than that?"

"If it looks like I have a chance of freeing King Goblanze or killing Ruppasta, I'll certainly do that. I'll have to assess the situation when I get into the Sacred Cavern."

"How will you fight them?" Neville continued to probe Harry's plan. "Your wand will likely be useless. They'll hear the door opening. By the time you reach the end of the tunnel, there will be a lot of Goblins waiting to jump you. I doubt you even get more than a step into the Cavern before you are captured. You'll likely have just a few seconds to observe, act, and report before they take your Keeper's ring. Remember, Ruppasta still recognizes the two Montaignes as the legitimate Keepers."

"Well… I could certainly take one of the swords or a spear. I could throw a few Weasley Whiz Bangs and blackout bombs into the Cavern, when I approach the end of the tunnel. I could use the Weasley goggles to see through the blackout. I could borrow Ron's deluminator and use that as well, or even hide under my cloak."

"That seems like a stretch," Neville persisted in challenging Harry. "All of those measures have a chance of succeeding if you are starting from an unknown spot and have some freedom of movement. However, in this case, the Goblins know that you have to exit the tunnel at a specific point and can just guard that point. You are very unlikely to slip past them in the darkness and confusion."

"Unlikely, but not impossible."

Neville snorted and then replied, "you're willing to lay down your life based on the fact that it's not impossible that the first step in your plan might succeed, thus giving you a small chance to move on to the equally improbable later steps?"

"I have a small Muggle bomb," Hermione interjected in the same tone in which she might have announced that she had been foresightful enough to have packed a flashlight or compass.

"If my last chance is to summon and receive assistance from the Keeper of the Universe, I don't think setting off a bomb in the Sacred Cavern is the right way to demonstrate my good intentions," Harry retorted. "I certainly don't understand Muggle bombs well enough to be at all confident that a bomb going off in the far end of the Sacred Cavern wouldn't damage the Circle. If King Goblanze were being held captive at the far end of the Cavern, the bomb would certainly kill him."

"That's probably true," Hermione admitted, "I'll have to think very deeply on this, but the rest of you should go on talking". I noticed that as she said this, she was reaching into her bag and retrieving the Diadem of Ravenclaw, which she perched upon her head, closing her eyes in concentration.

"I think we can ignore the bomb," Neville concluded, "but some Whiz Bangs hurled deep into the Cavern could provide a distraction. If you use the deluminator to quench the lights, then even scooting a stone across the stone floor in front of the tunnel could draw the defenders away from the edge of the tunnel and get them out front, where you can attack them and try to slip past."

"I still see this as an either/or situation," I declared. "Either Harry goes in, surrenders, and takes the slight chance that he can successfully negotiate with Ruppasta or convince his followers to abandon him, or we use the ideas we've been discussing to storm the Sacred Cavern. If Harry goes in fighting, he can't defeat Ruppasta's Goblins single-handed, and he'll likely be killed before he can be captured or negotiate. Even if he were captured alive, Ruppasta's is even less likely to be in the mood for negotiating than he is now, if Harry has killed some of his Goblins fighting his way in.

"Then again, Ruppasta surely knows that we've already killed some of his supporters out here in the Reception Hall, so he is not going to happily negotiate with Harry, especially since he believes Hermione's magic kept him from dislodging King Goblanze without a violent rebellion. I'm sure he sees all of us as interfering in Goblin affairs and his rightful accession to the throne."

"So negotiations are an unlikely path, regardless of the manner in which Harry enters the Sacred Chamber," Neville concluded. "That just leaves Harry's hope of summoning the Messenger Elf. I don't understand why that is more likely to work with Harry a prisoner or dead inside the Sacred Cavern than if Harry simply summons him from the Reception Hall."

"Well, umm… why do I think it's better to summon the Keeper of the Universe from inside the Sacred Cavern? Umm… I really have more of a hunch than anything. If I am to negotiate, to convince either Ruppasta or his followers, then I'm doing so from two bases of legitimacy. I'm the Deputy Minister negotiating government to government, which is my fallback position, because that implies that the Ministry accepts Ruppasta as the new King. I'll have to phone Arthur again. Second, and initially, I'm negotiating, as the Keeper, for the restoration of magic, as I have a duty and right to do under all versions of the Covenant. The rules say I need to do that from inside the Sacred Cavern. This Reception Hall is the end point from which the Assistant Keepers may summon help, but it is just the starting point for the Keeper. I think both the Messenger Elf and the Keeper of the Universe would expect me to summon them from inside the Sacred Cavern."

"That makes some sense and might even be correct," Neville admitted, "but it still doesn't give good odds of success. To use your favorite phrase, it is not entirely uncertain that summoning the Messenger Elf from the safety of the Reception Hall wouldn't work equally well".

This time it was Baal who answered. "The Messenger Elf could be summoned to the Reception Hall, but the Keeper of the Universe likely would not respond unless the Keeper and the Messenger Elf were inside the Sacred Cavern. That is the rule."

"How do you know that is the rule?" Ron challenged Baal.

"Almost every adult Elf knows this. It is knowledge passed from parents to little Elf."

"You say 'Keeper', but do we even know that the Messenger Elf and Keeper of the Universe will accept that Harry is the real Keeper?" Neville reasonably inquired. "He was picked by Lord Montaigne and has now been rejected by Montaigne, who in any case is still alive."

"No, we can't be sure of that," Hermione agreed, "but without that Harry doesn't have a plan and will be forfeiting his life for nothing."

"I'll come with Harry," Cissy volunteered. "I do want to see the Sacred Cavern again and my presence increases the odds that either Harry or I will be accepted as the true Keeper. I'd say that we could bring my father, but I don't think any of us can trust him and the aurors have taken him back to his confinement. He was furious that he wasn't allowed to accompany Bruce to the Hogwarts infirmary."

"I can't allow you to risk your life," Harry declared.

"I'm not sure I can allow you to risk your life, either," Bill the auror interjected. "I realize that Barb and I can't enter the Sacred Cavern, unless there is a need to storm the place to rescue you. Going in with you would only increase the odds that you're killed, even before you're allowed to speak. I'm trying to convince myself that this is one of those Deputy Minister duties, where we just have to grit our teeth and let you get on with a necessary but dangerous task."

"The Minister knows I'm going in and gave me ground rules to follow," Harry replied. This seemed to satisfy Bill, but Cissy went back on the attack.

"You can't ask me to take the risk with you, but you can't prevent me from making that decision," Cissy replied. "You and I are co-Keepers. This is as much a duty for me as it is for you. If you enter the Sacred Cavern, I'm coming with you. Ruppasta has far more reason to be angry at you than he has to be angry at me. He has no way of knowing that I helped stop Bruce. He may well see me as the loyal daughter of Lord Montaigne. We don't even have to enter the Sacred Cavern as overt allies: we can claim to represent two factions within the Wizard world and two possible choices for Keeper. You do trust me to actually be a covert ally, don't you? I want to be Keeper, because I want to do an excellent job of fulfilling the responsibilities of Keeper. That certainly means helping you succeed. I have no desire to be a bad Keeper."

"I trust you," Harry quickly replied. "I just think you're very young to be risking your life. The odds of our leaving the Sacred Cavern alive are slim."

"I knew that there were great risks when I agreed to be a trainee Keeper. Unlike the rest of my family, I will not shirk my duty or use my position for self-interest. If I die, at least I redeem my family. Those of you here can bear witness that I tried to do the right thing. I sense that you feel, like the time you faced Voldemort that your life has come down to this moment. I feel the same way about my life. This is an honorable way of fulfilling my prophecy."

Harry merely said "Alright then," but Hermione quickly cut in. "It isn't that simple and we haven't even decided yet that Harry entering the Sacred Chamber is the best approach. Ravenclaw and I have been thinking and I believe it comes down to two questions. First, is this the best point to act, or will that best time come later, possibly years later as Dumbledore speculated might be the case? Second, to what extent do we believe in the prophecies, including the vision in Trelawney's globe, and are we going to be swept up by them or try to act logically at cross purposes to them? Do you believe the prophecies protect you from death if you enter the Sacred Chamber, or do you believe that your death prevents the birth of your child and thus dooms all magical creatures, in accordance with the prophecy?"

"Those are certainly the big questions," Harry agreed in a tone that said he didn't have an answer for them. We were all silent for a few moments, before Luna stated, "as bad as the odds are today, I'm not at all sure we'll ever have a better chance. At least King Goblanze is probably still alive and Ruppasta hasn't consolidated control. A lot of his supporters died in his revolt and the survivors have to be feeling some doubt in his leadership. I'm sure they didn't expect this many losses when they signed on with him."

"The prophecy says that Hermione and I are supposed to provide Harry and Neville with the ancient mysteries that they need to succeed. It's too soon. We don't have any ancient wisdom to give you."

"That's not entirely true," Hermione contradicted me, "although I certainly would prefer a lot more time to research and analyze the situation. We have discovered the Covenants, which could be said to be an ancient mystery. I think these say that having accepted the Keeper job, that Harry has a duty to enter the Sacred Cavern to summon assistance. We've learned how to do that.

"We've also learned how to tune the Circle, if Harry can somehow gain control of the Sacred Cavern. You and Harry have learned the special magic that may allow you to communicate with him while he's inside the Sacred Cavern. We've learned some things about the power of prophecy, and they suggest that Harry might be safe. We've learned some things about the Light Guardian. We may be in the position where we just have to trust the Light Guardian and Harry's bravery and ability of persuasion."

"I agree," Neville said decisively. "To hedge our bet on the prophecies, Harry has half an hour left to try to get Ginny pregnant. Umm, sorry Ginny."

We all looked around and seemed to have reached agreement that Harry and Cissy would enter the Cavern. Meanwhile, Harry and I didn't even have time to make it to a soft bed in Gryffindor, so we very romantically headed to the cold stone floor of the landing at the top of the stairs to the Reception Hall. Luna gave us a little cheer.

We were just getting back into our clothes as Professor McGonagall came upon us on her way into the Reception Hall. "I thought I had given you an office for this sort of thing, Mr. Potter," was all she said as she squeezed past us and continued on her way. We were almost right behind her as we reentered the Reception Hall.

"While you were otherwise occupied, we made a few decisions," Neville informed us. "First, if Harry is out of contact for more than five minutes, Baal will automatically summon the Messenger Elf. Second, if negotiations don't go well, Ruppasta may have an inkling that it's better to just throw you out of the Cavern than to kill you. If he leans in that direction, you must seize the opportunity and not just sit there waiting for something to happen, when the something will almost certainly be your death. I know what you are inclined to do and Dumbledore charged me to prevent you from taking stupid chances. Going into the Sacred Cavern and attempting to negotiate is a reasoned risk, born of necessity, but you have to be willing to recognize when negotiation becomes futile and ejection from the Cavern becomes vastly superior to decapitation. Finally, we spoke to the Minister and he says to negotiate first as the Keeper, but that if you decide the only solution is to extend provisional recognition to Ruppasta as the King, then you have his support and authority to do that."

Harry had loaded Cissy and himself with Whiz Bangs and blackout bombs. He carried the deluminator in one hand and his wand, with the Keeper ring on it, in the other. He had the blackout vision goggles in the inner pocket of his robes, along with the folded invisibility cloak. He and Cissy were preparing to enter the Sacred Cavern, when Harry decided to ask Professor McGonagall to marry us. She appeared hesitant at first, but then decided that it was not an unreasonable course of action. We had an oh-so-romantic three minute wedding and then Harry and I spent a longer five minutes scratching out a Last Will and Testament, in case something happened to Harry. I was feeling really somber as I signed it. I had a last hug and a snog and then Harry and Cissy were headed for the entry arch. Cissy applied her ring and then placed it back on her wand.

Wizard, Goblin, and Centaur well-wishers clustered around Harry and Cissy as the door opened. I gave Harry a final hug, as did Ron, Hermione, Mom, and Neville. I heard Mom whisper, "welcome to the family, now be safe." I waved goodbye to Harry, fearing that I would never see him again, straining forward for a last final sight of his ankles as he walked through the tunnel.

Suddenly, I was pushed from behind and stumbled through the arch, quickly feeling a steel blade pressed against the center of my back. I felt someone break my fall and looked over my shoulder to see Hermione trying to pull me back out of the tunnel mouth. The Goblin tripped her and held a sword to her throat, before our side had a chance to rush the tunnel. The Goblin kept an eye on me and a threatening blade on Hermione as he ordered the others to stay back. Hermione was between the Goblin and the Reception Hall, so Bane's archers couldn't hit the Goblin without also hitting Hermione. I watched helplessly as the door moved back up into the closed position. The Goblin pulled Hermione ahead of him and herded the two of us through the tunnel at the point of his blade. I regained my footing and walked forward looking over my shoulder to see a fierce-looking Goblin, with a curved sword pointed steeply upward at me.

"I serve the prophecy and the true King," was all that he said. Rather than feeling frightened, I felt really stupid and angry that we had not considered the possibility of an enemy spy among King Goblanze's forces. I felt even more foolish as something clicked in my brain and I recognized this newly fierce Goblin as the formerly meek Deputy Chairman of Gringotts Bank.

As we walked into the brighter Sacred Cavern, I saw Harry being led at sword point to the stone chair to which he had been bound in the scene from Trelawney's globe. This sent a chill down my spine and turned my knees to jelly, almost causing me to fall on the stone floor as I stumbled forward. Our captor was joined by two others, who were hiding at the sides of the inner mouth of the tunnel. They joined the Deputy Chairman in prodding us with little pricks to the upper back from what obviously were very sharp swords. We were being steered toward the stone seats that King Goblanze said were reserved for us. Harry and Cissy were already seated in adjacent seats. Apparently now was the appropriate time for the Mother of the Future and her muse to sit in their chairs, which the Goblins had reserved for them, which is to say us.

"The penalty for humans entering the Sacred Cavern is death," Ruppasta shouted at us from a raised stone platform in front of the Circle. The platform was just deep enough to hold the rather smallish golden Goblin throne, on which he sat. I got a quick look at him, in what must be the royal Goblin coronation robes. He was wearing a golden crown, with a large emerald in the front and holding a four foot long silver scepter with a large ruby at its top. My view was temporarily blocked as I was thrust forward onto the stone seat and then turned around and held in place by a dozen little Goblin hands. I wasn't fastened to the chair, but the Goblins standing nearby with swords at the ready were a very clear warning not to try to stand, even if I had the strength in my legs to break away from all the hands that pressed me down. I was further disheartened to see one of the Goblins walking away holding my wand, which he placed, bowing as he did so, on the stone platform, to the right of the throne. I saw two other wands lying next to my own and knew that Harry and Cissy were likewise disarmed. My heart sank farther into my gut as I noticed the fat spot on their wand shafts, indicating that they had also lost their Keeper rings.

Glancing to my right, I saw that Hermione looked both terrified and determined to react stoically. "I have a feeling that this could still work out for us," I told her; in what I hope was both an encouraging and an authoritative tone.

"You have no right to take us prisoner," Harry shouted at Ruppasta. "Cissy and I entered this Sacred Cavern in accordance with our duties under the Covenant to request that you assist us in correcting the imbalance in the magical force. Ginny and Hermione did not enter the Sacred Cavern willingly; they were forced to enter by one of your Goblins. Besides, they are our assistant Keepers and allowed to enter to assist me in my duties."

"I neither recognize the two of you as Keeper nor the right of a human Keeper to enter this Sacred Cavern," the self-proclaimed King Ruppasta replied. "This is our Cavern and our magic, which Wizards steal. I destroy the magic, so you are not so strong." As he spoke, he cut two of the silver wires connecting the stones of the outer circle. The Circle buzzed like angry wasps. I felt a wave of dizziness and weakness sweep across my head and body.

**Original text**

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	89. Chapter 89

**Chapter Eighty-Nine – The Wisdom of the Four**

"I didn't think a Wizard would dare to enter the Sacred Cavern of the crystal circle," Ruppasta boomed at Harry. "I was clear that I and my Goblins are not limited by a cheated Covenant from when Goblin too weak to fight. It forced us underground, while humans rule the world, using magic we made."

"Your Kingship is established under that Covenant," Harry replied, "as is Goblin ownership of this Cavern. The Wizard Keepers have protected the Goblins' control of this Sacred Cavern. We have not entered other than in the rare circumstances provided by that Covenant. I entered under the terms of that agreement and request my right to speak. You should know that Wizards live a life almost as hidden from Muggle humans as the Goblin life. You and your supporters should also know that an above-ground Goblin colony has already begun."

"You give smallest and worst piece of your land to us and think any Goblin but false King Goblanze be happy? Now that you here, say what you come to say, and then you die, as did the last Wizard to come here." The exclamation point on that last statement was provided by three of his followers who dropped an inert Wizard body at our feet. The body was robed, thin, and had brown hair, worn in Wizard style. I couldn't see the face.

"The Covenant say I must let you speak to Directors, but only person listed in Covenant may leave after talk. You are not listed. You are not Montaigne. Father quit, now Bruce is Keeper. I hope think very hard on what you say to us. It be very silly to die to say stupid thoughts. You look stupid."

"If I may," Cissy spoke out in a surprisingly strong voice, "you say that you recognized my father as Keeper of the Covenant. Well, he has resigned and appointed Harry Potter and me as co-Keepers. Each of us is of Montaigne descent and we have been trained by my father and by the Unicorns and Centaurs in the duties of Keeper. My father renounced my brother Bruce's right to be Keeper. In any event, Bruce repeatedly turned down the position and he now is dead; killed in the battle in the Reception Hall. We are the legitimate Keepers and we have a right both to speak and to leave this Cavern in peace after speaking. The Covenant gives us those rights, just as it gives the Goblins the control of this Cavern. I choose to have Harry Potter speak first on behalf of all Wizards."

"I do not accept you and I do not accept Harry Potter as Keeper."

"You know I speak the truth," Cissy shouted at him. "A true Goblin King can always tell when a Witch or Wizard speaks the truth, and I know that I speak the truth, as does Harry. I thought wearing the crown would give you the ability to tell truthfulness. Perhaps not until you are actually coronated. Until then, perhaps the crown will not work for you. Perhaps it will never work for one who violates the Covenant from the Master of the Universe."

At this point the Deputy Chairman, who had been my captor, stepped forward and bowed to Ruppasta "my King, may I humbly remind you that ordinary Goblins do view the powers of the King as being granted by the Covenant, with the blessings of the Master of the Universe. Might it not be hasty to disown the Covenant so early in your reign?"

"You have good point. Speak, Harry Potter!"

"I come to beg you," Harry began in too small a voice, "to join with us in acting to save all magical creatures, as required by the Covenant. The numbers of all magical creatures are in swift decline and the Muggles are about to intrude onto the forest sanctuary of the Unicorns and the Centaurs. The Hogwarts forest is the final dwelling spot for each of these great magical races. If either of them perishes, it will be the end of magic, and that will mean the end of Goblins as well as the end of Wizards. There are fewer Goblins than Wizards. You've convinced yourself that you can fight without magic, but you can't. The proof is in the Reception Hall – dozens of your fighters are dead. They didn't fight against the trained Wizard aurors or the full Centaur herd. They fought against Wizard students and a handful of Centaurs, and yet they were killed. You left a hundred dead Goblins in the catacombs of Paris and at the Durmstrang circle. The Muggles are far more powerful than we are. You certainly can't fight them on your own. You can't even fight us. If the Hogwarts Sanctuary is destroyed by the Muggles, the Goblins will be just as dead as the rest of us. The different magical creatures can only survive by working together. The power of the crystal circle must be tapped to power a spell that can keep Hogwarts and its forest hidden from the Muggles.

"All that has happened has destroyed the ancient magical barriers. We can't replace the barriers on our own: the lines of magical force are withdrawing back into the crystal circle. The Goblins are the caretakers of the circle, but it is owned in common by all magical creatures. You have to release the magical force lines and allow them to flow unimpeded, through the channels created by the ancients. You think you've created a great weapon, but it isn't a weapon that you can use without also destroying yourselves. If all magical creatures keep trying to dominate or destroy the other magical species, soon there won't be any left. Our Ministry seeks freedom, equality, and self-determination for all magical creatures. To that end, we have already freed all of the Elves and are creating a sanctuary for the remaining Leprechauns. We will respect Goblin territory and Goblin rights. We are creating an above ground sanctuary for Goblins. I ask only your friendship and cooperation, for the good of all of us."

"I hoped that you had come to surrender and beg my mercy for yourself and your kind. I'm determined that Goblins again rule the magical world, with the rest of the magical creatures as our servants. You can be our house Elves, although we always treated the Elves far better than you treat them. We are sick of the damage caused by your petty Wizard wars. It is clear you mean to destroy yourselves. You make so much mess when you fight, that the Muggles will find and destroy us all, before we are ready to rule them. I am generous and merciful. Accept me as your King and yourselves as my slaves, and I let you live. I will not have you to stop with my plans. Goblins tear up Covenant and run worlds. We are most advanced of magical creatures. So, what will you be, slave or dead?"

"I don't accept either choice", Harry responded. "The Light Guardian established the Covenant and the peace under which all magical creatures once prospered. That Covenant compelled me to come into this Sacred Cavern, in obvious great risk of death, to ask you to honor your part of the Covenant, so that the fabric of the universe can be maintained. I would not have taken that risk if I didn't feel the situation was urgent. I ask you to fulfill your obligations under the Covenant. If you want the Goblin race to continue, you will do just that. How can a few thousand Goblins rule billions of Muggles? You make no sense."

"Your Light Guardian not concern me. I serve Master of the Universe. He will help me win, even with billions of Muggles. Magic more important for Muggle than you think. Very bad things happen soon, until Muggle stop and take me as King. Voldemort show this. I take it that you choose to die. Very well, secure them to their chairs."

"If you are truly the King, then you know that I speak the truth," Harry shouted. "Kill us and deny the Covenant and the Master of the Universe will abandon you. All Goblins will die. You have the power to save this situation. Voldemort is dead. Is that what you want?"

As we were chained to our chairs, Harry and I linked in silent communication. {[confident] We find ourselves in the exact scene depicted in Trelawney's globe. This is still going to work. Concentrate with me as hard as you can on summoning Baal. Concentrate, one, two, three, Baal.}

With a soft bang, Baal apparated to a spot on the floor, between Harry's chair and mine. Seeing us bound to chairs and a blade at Harry's throat, Baal asked if he should apparate us to freedom. "Yes," I replied instantly.

Unfortunately, Baal was not my Elf. "No," Harry countermanded me, "you need to fetch the Messenger Elf and Bane and tell them that they need to intercede on our behalf under the terms of the Covenant. I made my request to the Goblins and they refused it."

"We promised Neville," I admonished Harry, "but if you're staying, I'm staying."

"We'll all stay," Hermione affirmed.

The Goblin with the blade to Harry's throat was frozen in place, staring at Baal and awaiting orders. Ruppasta had finally noticed the Elf and decreed, "Slay that infernal creature!" The blade was removed from Harry's throat and swished down to slice Baal in half, top-to-bottom, but by the time the blade reached his head, the space was empty.

The self-proclaimed King declared, "Harry Potter, I've had quite enough insolence from you and your friends. I think it is time for you to die. I shall now pronounce your sentence…"

Not realizing that Centaurs were even capable of apparating, I was surprised when the bang occurred, to see Bane standing alone at the rear of the chamber, with Baal nowhere in evidence. Bane approach the dais with a dignified canter. Ruppasta glared at him and grudgingly gave him "permission to speak, but only under terms of the, err, sacred, Covenant".

Bane addressed the Directors on the dais. "I come under the terms of the Covenant governing the keeping of this land for all magical creatures and as the final preserve of the Unicorn. The Keeper of the Universe instructs that I demand the release of the Wizards that you hold captive and that I instruct you to abide by your duties under the Covenant. The prophecy remains in force: 'if any of these shall die, then surely we all must perish'. The survival of all magical creatures, not least of them the Unicorns sheltered in the forest above us, is required for the balance of the universe to be preserved. If there are no Unicorns, there will be no magic. Already, The Keeper has observed a brightening light in the northern sky, which blocks the path to our future.

"If you do not abide by the terms of the Covenant and free those whom you have captured, you will have no future. I don't care that deeply about you, but we Centaurs will also have no future. You must abide by the Covenant and also help us to keep the Muggles from the sacred estate, for they are ignorant that they also cannot survive without the magic which binds the universe. I have done my duty and delivered the message of The Keeper."

Ruppasta listened to Bane in silence and then replied "I don't believe you. I am divine King who answers only to The Master. It is forbidden for any but a Goblin to enter Sacred Cavern. You come under Covenant, so I will forgive interference in our business. You are right that Lady Montaigne is under covenant. I free her. You also right that Master must give final verdict for these three. I ask question and summon Speaker of The Master. Then you must leave and take the Montaigne. Wisdom of Master not for your ears. Other Wizards may hear, because they will not live. Covenant or not, if you here when Speaker come, you die with intruders. If you care for Unicorns, you move them to safe place not on Goblin sacred lands. Go!" Turning to the Deputy Minister, Ruppasta commanded, "Bring sacred crystal".

"Before I go," Bane told Ruppasta, "I'll speak as the head of the Centaur herd. You may temporarily destroy the magic, but you will not leave this cavern alive. The herd can enter at will and we will not let you continue. If you think little Goblins with curved swords fight well without magic, then you should open the door to the Reception Hall and look at all of the dead Goblins. You started with four hundred Goblins. How many are left? Don't count the ones you left at Gringotts. They're gone. It is your choice."

Six Goblins, dressed in brilliant crimson cloaks, slowly came forward, pulling a large brass cart, topped by a silver platform holding a giant transparent crystal, mounted in a silver cage. As the cart came to a halt, between our chairs and the dais, I could see that the crystal was at least three feet tall and a foot across in the middle. It was suspended by hundreds of copper wires connected to the rods of the cage. The silver rods were close to an inch thick and formed a dodecahedral cage, with the face nearest to us filled by what appeared to be a thin sheet of transparent crystal. Ruppasta left his throne, to walk around the crystal, so that he could speak directly into this transparent sheet. "I ask for verdict of The Master. Harry Potter and his friends were brought to the sacred cavern by the Montaigne. They dare to demand I help them after they soil Sacred Cavern. I ask approval to kill them and all the creatures on land above Sacred Cavern. This land is mine and Goblins. It is our right.

"Bring my sculptures, bring copy made by phony King, so all Goblins and Master can see who be the true King."

I had not noticed two other goblins pulling a brass wagon bearing a giant gong, but Ruppasta now punctuated his request to his Master by striking the gong with the femur of a very large departed Giant. I was left with my whole head ringing and unsure what form the response of the Goblin Master might take. Brave as he was, Bane did not wait to find out. As the gong finished reverberating, he was gone, taking Cissy with him.

Three teams of Goblins carried metal sculptures to the dais. A lone Goblin carried Goblanze's painting.

"See!" demanded Ruppasta. "I am great artist. That fool in back of room is fraud."

"Is he?" Harry shouted. "Didn't the Goblins pick his art as best and elect him as their King. You say he is a fraud. Show these good Goblins the Muggle art, which you claim was copied by King Goblanze. You can't, because his work is original. Can you prove to your followers that this painting is a copy?"

As the Goblins started to stir, Ruppasta shouted "You want die, quickly, quickly little human? Silence!"

I did not expect the Speaker for this Goblin deity to appear in the form of the Elf who apparated atop the silver cage, with a loud bang. It must have been a very loud bang, to be audible above the ringing in my head. He looked very much like an ordinary house Elf, except he wore a cloak of what appeared to be very rich purple velvet, fastened by a very large emerald, which he had adopted as a button. He carried a short staff of gold, which he pounded upon the silver rod he was standing upon. It was an unnecessary gesture - he already had the full attention of every creature in the Cavern.

As my head cleared from the ringing of the gong, I recognized that Hermione was correct when she took one look at the newly arrived Elf and said, "That's Cotto, Harry's Ministry Elf. I guess I was wrong to criticize him for stepping into the labor negotiations with the kitchen Elves. He must be the Elves' leader." This fact was quickly confirmed by Cotto, himself.

"I am Cotto, King of the Elves, and more importantly, the Speaker for He who keeps the universe for The Master. The Keeper is not to be bothered for trifles. What is your request?" The Goblin King repeated his summary of our misdeeds and the dire sentence that he wished to carry out upon us, and those other magical creatures on the grounds of Hogwarts. At the end of this recitation, Cotto merely replied "you are correct to seek the wisdom of The Master's Keeper," and vanished. There was nothing we could do but sit and wait to die.

Harry had been certain that we must visit the Goblins and that the place of our meeting must be on their territory, in their Sacred Cavern, under the absolute control of the Goblin King. He was sure that this was the only way to save the last Unicorns and that all hope would fade if they should perish. The vision had been clear. The end of the Unicorns meant the end of magic and magic was needed to keep the universe stitched together. He had freely walked into this trap, determined to deliver the message of this vision in person, to a Goblin King, who unknowingly held the fate of all magical creatures in his hands.

And so, I sat chained to my chair, looking at Harry, chained to his, but with a blade of sharp Goblin steel, pressed against his throat, as we awaited a return of the Elf who was the servant of the Goblin Master. I couldn't help thinking of Trelawney's vision. We might be just seconds removed from the fate depicted as Trelawney's globe had suddenly been filled with blood red. I had so many regrets, primary among them that Harry and I had been married for less than an hour. A marriage of a mere hour was certainly not much of a marriage. At least, we had spent a very bright half year together, and hopefully saved the world, even if we had been denied the chance to participate in its rebuilding. I could stop wondering about my prophecy - it was not going to happen. I didn't really mind. If Harry wasn't going to walk out of here alive, I chose to die here also. We had fought this battle together. It was fitting that we should die together. The natives were definitely getting restless. The young Goblin warriors were looking increasingly agitated and anxious to see our blood spilled.

Cotto reentered the room, and the roar of the blood-thirsty young Goblins was suddenly hushed. He strode through the cavern, carrying a roll of parchment to the King Ruppasta, seated on his throne. He handed the parchment to Ruppasta and declared in a very loud voice for an Elf, "The Master says you shall not harm Harry Potter. The Master protects Harry Potter and has always protected him. Harry Potter served The Master and his prophecy, when he entered this Sacred Cavern. The Master has decreed: if you harm Harry Potter, you shall perish. You also shall free the friends of Harry Potter. They still have a prophecy to complete for The Master. All creatures that think are the family of The Master. All of these creatures are required for any to survive."

There was some grumbling among the Goblins, but the blade was removed from Harry's throat. Ruppasta made one final appeal to the Elf: "Are you sure you spoke directly to The Master and that these are his instructions?"

"I spoke to the one who keeps the universe for The Master. He says this is the final word of The Master. You must do what Harry Potter asks. The Master instructs that I should remind you that Goblin Kings rule at his pleasure. He says that Goblanze is still King." With that, Cotto was gone. I doubted that any of us would ever see him again.

"I cannot accept this," Ruppasta cried out. "If my dream is dead, then magic die." He rose from his throne and approached the crystals of the Circle. He looked over his shoulder, ordering his supporters "kill humans and kill false-King Goblanze." He began hacking away the silver threads that joined the crystals of the circle, causing the crystals to emit a grating screech, as if they were screaming in pain. As Ruppasta continued hacking at the silver wires that transformed the stones and crystals into a precisely tuned circle, two of his young rebel Goblins approached us with swords held high.

I don't know if Harry had managed to send a 'help' signal, somehow, but I could hear the heavy door to the Sacred Chamber sliding open. Ruppasta heard it too and shouted, "Infidels dare to invade the Sacred Cavern! Kill them!" A few of his Goblins, in truth he didn't have all that many left, only perhaps a couple dozen, moved toward the entry tunnel to carry out their leader's will.

Fortunately, the Deputy Chairman returned to the front of the room to stand in front of us, blocking the path of the young rebels, who would kill us, as he intoned in a voice used to issuing commands, "We must do as the Master commands. It would be a grave sin to kill those whom he has ordered us to spare."

"We must do what our King commands," one of the sword wielders declared, although there seemed to be a hint of doubt as he confronted the Deputy Chairman.

I was deciding how this was going to turn out, when there was another loud band and a very large eight foot tall brightly glowing Goblin materialized on the stone platform, to the left of the throne. Suddenly, most of the Goblins were kneeling on the stone, with their foreheads pressed flat on the ground and humming. One of the attackers was still confronting the Deputy Chairman. His sword was held high and he clearly still meant to slaughter us. Ruppasta turned from his destructive progress to exclaim "Master!", but he did not bow and went back to wielding his scepter on the silver wires. Amidst this tumult, I thought I detected steps from the tunnel into the Reception Hall. Rescuers might be on their way, but if something didn't slow down this Goblin with the long sword, it might be too late to do us any good.

There were yet a couple more loud bangs and flashes and then a veil of darkness between us, the Deputy Chairman and our attacker. Either Harry had used his non-wand powers to extract some Weasley gimcracks from his robes and propel them several feet in front of our chairs, or our rescuers had hurled them from the tunnel. This might not serve to protect us, but at least it would spare me watching the lethal blow being struck.

Before the darkness had fully descended, I had seen the Giant Goblin walk toward the circle. Darkness was almost full upon us as I saw him transforming into an oblong oval of rapidly brightening white light, which for an instant seemed to be sprouting the shadowy outline of arms, legs, and what might be the long beard and spectacles of Dumbledore. This image faded as quickly as it had appeared and the shape became a ball of intense white fire that ripped through the Weasley blackout field with such brightness that it forced me to close and avert my eyes, as the whole circle seemed to be consumed by the light.

I found myself thinking "this must actually be the Light Guardian, but why did he first appear as a giant Goblin?"

As if my thoughts had been read, which I guess they had been, I felt thoughts pouring into my head. "Yes, I am what Wizards call the Light Guardian. I appeared as a giant Goblin, because Goblins can only imagine that their Master must look like themselves, only as much larger than Wizards as Wizards are larger than Goblins. I began to appear to you as a giant light of a familiar human form, but then realized that you didn't require that. As you should be able to guess, I am able to assume any form. A ball of light energy suits me well and serves for the current requirement to repair the Circle." As I watched through nearly closed eyelids and with the periphery of my vision, the light became a little less bright, but the silver in the rings, which held the stones and crystals, began to boil. Drops of molten silver jetted upward in little droplets that danced in rippling circular waves at various heights around the circle, eventually forming intricate braided patterns. All the while, the crystal resonated and reverberated and their sound filled my head. As I watched the light cooled further and the rippling crystal droplets had joined and resolved into an intricate webbing of fine wires, once again linking the crystals. The crystals glowed and hummed with a pure, high pitch. Through my barely open eyelids I could see the Deputy Chairman, but not the Goblin with the sword. The Deputy Chairman apparently noticed the absence of our attacker at the same time that I did and knelt, with his forehead touching the stone floor.

Through the ringing I again heard the Light Guardian in my head. "I am loading into your brain the information that you will need to tune and maintain the Circles. You and the others must pass it down through the ages, so that magic is not diminished. You are now the Mother of the Future and the chair in which you now sit shall be your rightful seat, whenever you need or choose to come to this Cavern. You will need to know the languages of the Goblins, the Centaurs, the Unicorns, Giants, Leprechauns, and Elves. You will find that you do know them. You will also be able to speak to the Wizards in France and Germany. You will remember the history of the Light Guardian priestesses and the insights that they have gathered over the millennia. The Covenant must remain in force, but you shall renew it. You have a higher authority as a Keeper of the Covenant to summon me or the Keeper of the Universe. Search your mind and you will know how to make your own ring. Try to work things out on your own. It has been millennia since I have had to appear on your world and I hope it will be as long before I need to return again. You, Harry and Cissy will be Keepers for your lifetimes as well as, if necessary, your children, but all of you are charged with moving the magical creatures back toward the terms of the original Covenant, whereby any magical creature may enter this Cavern and repair the magical force or summon assistance. The Goblins have been told that they must share the caverns.

"Ruppasta as King would have destroyed everything, but Goblanze is a cheat. He knows he must resign and a new selection begin. You must assist him with that. I read your thoughts that you want to play at Quidditch and be a Harpy. You may do that for two years. Then you have a serious life with serious responsibilities."

The light faded and was gone, leaving us bathed in just the residual glow of the crystals. {[elated] We have much to talk about. I don't think we can rely on the Goblins to release us. Let's try an 'accio wand' in unison. We'll try to get your wand to you first. One, two, three 'accio wand'.}

My wand bounded into my right hand and I twisted my captive wrist to point the wand at the lock of the chain that binding my left arm to the chair. I thought 'destructo', which really wasn't a spell I had ever learned, but I visualized the lock and chain collapsing into dust. That is exactly what happened. I noticed a whole phalanx of rescuers moving in our direction. I switched the wand to my left hand and quickly repeated the procedure to free my right arm and then my legs. I looked up to see that Ron and Luna had released Hermione, while Neville had freed Harry. Margaret and Neville then walked to the rear of the Cavern to free King Goblanze.

The Goblins had already released him. Margaret was standing before me in her Joan of Arc suit, her sword menacing the remainder of Ruppasta's Goblins, although they showed no signs of wanting to fight. The danger seemed past, but Bill and Barb also were guarding us. Cissy was standing between Harry and me, looking very contrite as she apologized "I didn't want to leave you here to die by yourselves. It may seem cowardly, but I thought that leaving with Bane might be the last chance to organize an attack on the Sacred Cavern. I hope you aren't angry with me."

Harry assured her that he was not angry and that she had acted both bravely and wisely. That produced a big smile, and then Cissy threw herself at Harry, hugging him around the neck and sobbing into his shoulder.

The King, half a dozen of his remaining supporters, and the rest of our circle walked back to the front of the chamber to rejoin us. I saw that Draco was among the small group which had been able to storm the Sacred Chamber before Ruppasta's Goblins had gotten the door closed again. I was both surprised and pleased to see he had come to our aid. I said hello to Draco and gave him a friendly squeeze on the arm. I could not see Ruppasta. I saw the Goblin who had held the sword on us. He now seemed docile and almost friendly.

When I looked up, Harry and Cissy were inspecting the circle. I joined them and saw that the Circle appeared to be fully restored, with an even more intricate lacework of silver wires joining the crystals and stones than I recalled from my first brief visit with Lord Montaigne.

I noticed that Ruppasta was nowhere in sight. His three metal sculptures had also vanished. In their place stood a new metal sculpture of Goblin, Witch, Centaur, Unicorn, Elf, Leprechaun, and Giant peacefully holding hands in back of a whale with a foot tall clear crystal emerging from its spout. There was a golden plaque embedded in the floor in front of it. Written in six different languages, the plaque read "In honor of all creatures who work together, because they think. Thou shalt not remove this statue. It is the symbol of the new Covenant, which you shall create."

I pointed to the plaque. Harry and Hermione both nodded. "The Giants and cetaceans don't have a written language," Hermione explained.

We spent the next several minutes hugging and congratulating friends and allies. Harry and I hugged them together, our hands joined. It was the happiest I have ever felt.

Hermione remarked, "these events fairly closely matched what we saw in Trelawney's globe, including her explanation that the darkening and then blood red color of the globe might be due to oversaturation with light. I think the Weasley blackout and the Light Guardian fully explain what we saw in the globe."

"Yes," I agreed. "Trelawney is owed points for that one."

Harry checked to see if his cell phone would work from the Sacred Chamber. It would not. An update to Dad would have to wait until we reached the surface.

"It's time to return to the Reception Hall," Harry informed us all. "I'm sure this Circle is working better than it ever has. We'll need to repair the Gringotts Circle, but I think we all just learned how to do that." We walked through the short tunnel to the archway. Harry slid his ring off his wand and pressed it against the conforming depression beside the stone arch. The door slid into the floor and the twelve of us, actually thirteen, as the Deputy Chairman joined us, walked into the Reception Hall. The Deputy Chairman was apologizing to Harry for his 'perhaps precipitous actions' explaining, "I heard your plan, but knew that the prophecy required that both Ginny and Hermione join you in the cavern, so I took it upon myself to make that happen. I beg your forgiveness." His request was drowned out by the roar of the crowd that greeted us from the Reception Hall.

As the Centaur archers removed the arrows from their bows and George lowered his sword, it became clear that the roar had been a battle cry and that those in the Hall had not been at all certain that we would be the side to emerge safely from the archway. I couldn't blame them: I had expected to be half an hour dead by now.

The magical forces were fully restored and we decided to apparate to the pocket inside the Hogwarts gate. We walked far enough away to avoid clogging the landing zone and then Harry phoned Dad. In the course of three minutes, Harry provided a very complete summary of events, although I noticed that he omitted any mention of our wedding. Bill recruited one of the two gate aurors to join our party and dispatched Barb to file a full report of our skirmishes. She looked a little uncertain and Bill reassured her "don't worry, the Director's really not as fierce as he seems and he will be really anxious to hear what you have to say. He may question you very closely, but he should treat you very well. You will be bearing very good news."

[Fade away from ourselves, to The Keeper]

The Keeper of the Universe spoke his words of wisdom to those members of his expanded family who were most willing to listen. "Alright students, if you look at the northern quadrant of the night sky, you will observe that the signs of imbalance, which I pointed out to you last class, are now gone. The brightening light that heralded the end of our time within this universe has already started to fade. I have made a detailed study of the stars' prophesy and I see that the path to the future has reopened. The Mother of the Future is still with us, but she and her companions have much work left to do."

"Ohh", a second year girl sighed, "I don't think I fully understood that, but isn't Professor Firenze just so dreamy".

"I'm sorry, young Witches," Professor Firenze stated "but I must cut this lesson short. I have already shown you the most significant change in the sky. I will explain more next time. I believe Ginny has returned, and I must speak with her."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Cissy, Neville, King Goblanze and I found ourselves standing on the lawn beneath the astronomy tower, with Firenze trotting up to us. "For a while there, I didn't think I would ever see you again," I admitted.

"It was written in the stars, Ginny. I had no doubt that you would appear before me, as you have. You all really must sign up for Divination again next semester. All of this will become so much clearer to you. I know the girls come to my classes, because they think I am dreamy, but I can tell from their exams that they do listen and some are gaining a true understanding. If more Wizards don't sign up for the course, the Wizarding world will again be governed by the Witches. Not that I would ever suggest that this would be a bad thing."

"This has all been very confusing," Hermione began, "we were sure we had the prophecies all figured out, but now I know we chose the wrong meaning after all. I was so certain that 'Underground Mountain' was a mondegreen for Gunter Gran Martine, and now it seems the prophecy really did mean underground mountain, or at least an underground cavern in the mountain. The circle could have been the crystal circle in the cavern or it could have been the circle of Harry and his friends, as we finally decided. Maybe I do need your next course to interpret the rest of the prophecies that speak of us."

"Hermione, you and Harry Potter should have learned this, even if you had only stayed alert when you took divination from Professor Trelawney. Any great and true prophecy has more than one meaning and more than one of the meanings can be true. As you follow your prophecy, you discover the truest meaning and make it a reality. Just like the first prophecy with Voldemort which could have applied to either Harry or Neville. In the end, Voldemort selected the fork in the paths. In a truer sense, both Harry and Neville remained linked to the prophecy and both were required to defeat Voldemort. Harry and Neville are still linked, both by that prophecy and the newer ones. If the prophecies put you on your guard and prodded to you investigate and plan, while you had the time, and to act, when events demanded action, then those prophecies have fulfilled their purpose. Such prophecies are also a way that we Centaurs can bring to the attention of the other magical species those individuals with special talents, who might otherwise be overlooked and not nurtured in time for them to help all of us. Your work is not at an end; the prophecies must continue to guide you."

"But you've said before, Trelawney is a fraud, so how can her prophecies be great and true?"

"In most things, the woman is a very great fraud, but she has an uncanny ability to read my thoughts and blurt them out in a trance. I would have chosen a different way to help point you on your quest, but her way worked. Later, when she showed me the visions in her mother's globe, I realized that I had misjudged her and that she possesses a genuine gift of foreseeing. It simply didn't take the exact form that she believed it did. I don't think she ever truly believed in tea leaves or palm reading or any of the other things that she taught in class. That was the required course content and the poor Witch has lived in great fear of being thrown out of Hogwarts. It's the only life she has known as an adult, but I believe that I have convinced her that she can become more."

"Do you really keep the universe in tune for the Goblin Master?"

"That is my duty, but my Master is not only the Goblin's Master. He can assume whatever form is most impressive to the creatures in question. Could it be any other way? We cannot exist without the Light Guardian's help, and it can no longer exist without us. It appeared to the Wizards as the Light Guardian and will appear tonight in the Muggle Prime Minister's bed chamber as the Archangel Gabriel. A pod of whales will receive a signal in the form of a giant glowing silver dolphin. What you would recognize as a Patronus. There is a continuum of sentient spirits and their magic that permeates the universe, and it is my job to keep it flowing along a straight time path. If the path should cross itself, unbelievably bad things would happen. I think we might all cease to exist. We at least would not be magical."

"I don't understand why Bane would be as nasty to the Keeper of the Universe as he was to you when the three of us first met," Harried queried.

"Bane didn't know that I was the Keeper of the Universe. It was important to keep my identity secret from Voldemort and his supporters. Perhaps I should have trusted him more. The whole idea of the Keepers and the Covenant were kept quiet. When I told Bane the secret, almost a year ago, he was very supportive. That is one of the reasons he attacked Voldemort's forces. Bane says that it has been over two hundred years since the leader of the Centaur herd has had the honor of defending the Keeper. I've only been Keeper for nine years, since the Elf who formerly held the post was killed. The Keeper can be any magical, and sometimes non-magical, creature who understands the workings of the universe and the Yantra. There have been what your people call Muggle Keepers of the Universe. For centuries one Keeper after another was a Muggle living in Asia. When you speak to Ginny, you will learn that she knows most of the relevant history. I had the privilege of hearing what the Light Guardian said to each of you."

"Oh, I didn't realize any of that," I admitted. "We were planning to compare notes to see if we each heard the same message. I have a question for you – what happened to Ruppasta? I looked for him after, but he wasn't in the Cavern."

"The Light Guardian transported Ruppasta to a place where he can't harm others. I believe the place is called 'Bad Goblin'. It is apparently a beautiful above-ground land, rich with fruit, nuts, and cinnamon, where Ruppasta can happily live out his remaining days. When you return to the McGonagall, you will find that Bruce has vanished from the Hogwarts infirmary. The Light Guardian healed his body and mind, just as he healed Ruppasta's mind. Bruce is with Ruppasta in 'Bad Goblin'. They must rid their minds of the hate which corrupted them. The Light Guardian placed a charm upon them. As soon as they are free of hate and suitable to live among the other magical creatures, they will be returned to our world. I'm not sure that will ever happen."

Harry asked Firenze "to change topics, the third prophecy requires that my next action must be taken at the center of the universe. How can I get to the center of the universe?"

"You should know that we Centaurs are really students of religion. Most of the great human religions set great stock on the Earth being the center of the universe. Perhaps they are correct: to my knowledge this is the only planet in the universe that has living Unicorns, so perhaps magic is anchored here. The crystal cavern below Hogwarts could be the center of magic in the universe. It is said that Merlin believed it to be thus. The real answer is that the prophecy contains a riddle. The universe is infinite in all directions, regardless of where you choose to stand. So, every point in the universe is at the center of the universe. You are free to fulfill your third prophecy at any point of your own choosing. At least that is my interpretation. You may think of a better one. I hope you all will take the Light Guardian's message to heart."

"I know. Stop killing other intelligent creatures," Ron answered for all of us. "I really have been trying. The Light Guardian told me to throw away my anger, before it destroys me. I really am going to try much harder to do that. I am also willing to follow the advice to stop fighting and start building. I was given an out if fighting is unavoidable to protect the innocent. It's uncanny. That's almost exactly what Professor Dumbledore said in the letter he left for me. That and don't act so stupidly that I lose Hermione. I have a lot of thinking to do."

"I'm sure we all do," Hermione reassured my brother.

"We should all go back to the castle and bring Professor McGonagall up to date on what happened," Harry told us.

"You go," an excited Neville replied. "The Light Guardian told me to go talk to my parents. It's too much to wish for, but I must go see…"

Break, break, break

Not an ending I'm especially fond of, certainly more than a tad schmaltzy, but I tried to maintain the tone of a Rowlingesque ending. Except for a very short final chapter, this is the end of Part II. For those who are up for more, the original Part 3 is complete and posted on this site. It will be substantially revised, but it will likely be months before I do so. Your choice whether to read it now, or not.

**Original text**

Contribute a better translation


	90. Chapter 90

**Chapter Ninety – Too Much Initiative?**

"You took a lot of initiative with my life in the balance. I don't know whether I should thank you or banish you. I was waiting for you to lead our allies in storming the cavern. That had a decent chance of success. We could have repaired the Circle. That was the wise, logical move. You're as bad as Potter. The Master? I thought him a bedtime story for the young Goblins who can't understand logic. And Firenze? Why stand on the old ceremonies? If he and Bane could apparate to my rescue in the failing magic, why wait for Potter to risk his life again? To risk so much just to follow the precise form of the ritual makes no sense. And to rush off to teach his class while the rest of us were in mortal peril?"

"He had faith, as did Potter and I. I know it was a terrible gamble. I was prepared to die with the rest of you. I beg your pardon, my King. I did what I felt I must. I am glad to have my King back!"

"I forgive you. Much has been accomplished by Goblins with too much initiative. I'll not be your King for long. The Master has labeled me a cheat. There will be a new election. It has been good working with you. For a banker, you are a most un-modern Goblin. I am humbled, and not just by your faith. The Elf and the Centaurs apparated into the Sacred Chamber, with magic mostly dead at a time when I could do nothing with my magic. I fear it is more their cavern than ours. I'm glad we must share. I now realize we were there at their sufferance all along. We built it, but they are more attuned to its power than we are."

"Their magic is just different, my King. The Sacred Circle still worked. It was the Cavern of the Goblins circle which corrupted the force. The Elves and Centaurs don't need as pure a force as Wizards and Goblins. They tap the raw power and extract the nuance from the clutter. This question was foremost in my mind and the Master supplied the answer. He said that for a Goblin of the old faith, I was strangely logical, which was a good thing. He said that would make me a great King. He said that we did not build the Sacred Circle by ourselves. He guided all of the magical creatures to help in its construction. The Wizards were gaining wisdom by that time and the Elves, Centaurs, and Unicorns were always our equals. We just couldn't see it, or long ago we forgot."

"You are welcome to be King. I would have retired long ago, but for Ruppasta. It was wrong to cheat, but I sensed at the time that Ruppasta must not be King. That would have been the end of us all. The Unicorns told me as much."

"So, you did have faith."

"Perhaps only when it matches my interest. You have been a loyal deputy. I wish you well. I will gladly assist you, if I may? You will be a good King – for this time. Did the Master fill your head with new knowledge?"

"Yes. I now know how to build a Circle. There aren't enough Goblins left, but with the other magical beings, it can work. I also learned enough ancient Goblin history to know that we once treated our females far better than we do now. I saw images of them leading ceremonies in the Sacred Cavern."

"Yes, the Witches have done very well this past year. If we do not make some changes, they will want to have nothing to do with Goblins. Did you know that there have only been Goblin Kings for a thousand years?"

"So the Master taught you Goblin history."

"Not now, it is still too painful a subject to dwell upon. Perhaps tomorrow I will be able to tell you about my message from the Master."

Break, break, break

Thus finally concludes Part II. There is a bit of contradiction within Part III to changes made in the first two parts. Also, some considerable shark jumping, which I may delete, when and if I re-edit Part III.


	91. Chapter 91

This is actually Chapter One of Part III, but it equally well is the wrap-up summary of Part II. Since I have made significant revisions, I'll put the revised chapter here to conclude the thoughts on Part II, so the revision doesn't hang for months. The original Chapter One of Part III is still included with the old Part III on this site.

Break, break, break

**PART THREE – A START TO MARRIED LIFE**

**Chapter One – Harry Meets With His In-Laws**

As we walked back to the Gryffindor common room, it struck me that I was now a married Witch and that Harry and I would have to tackle McGonagall for our own Hogwarts apartment first thing in the morning. Harry would also have to give a push to Dudley to hurry the house hunting along. At least we would have our own Wizard world house and it would be right next door to Ron and Hermione. Construction of this house on our portion of the Hogwarts estate was well under way. Although I was not the sort of young Witch to fantasize about a fancy wedding, with all my friends and family oohing and ahhing over my wedding attire, I had expected a little more than the three minute special that Professor McGonagall had conducted. Draco's rushed and improvised wedding to Pansy had been formal and elaborate by comparison. Mom had been off collecting more antique weaponry from the Hogwarts corridors, and had not arrived back in the Reception Hall until after that brief ceremony had finished. Ron and George were the only members of my family to actually witness my wedding. So, in addition to spending our wedding night in separate dorms, Harry and I would spend our last waking moments together on our wedding night wondering how we would explain all of this to Dad.

{[apologetic and worried] I could pick up those thoughts and I'm sorry for the rushed ceremony. We can do it again, properly, during Christmas break. I think Ron and Hermione want to get married then, also. And, yes, I know we have to figure out what to say to your father. I propose we not worry about that tonight. We'll tackle McGonagall before breakfast and your Dad right after. Don't think me a coward, but I thought we might bring your mother with us to smooth the way and calm your Dad, if that becomes necessary.}

There was some excitement, worry, and expectancy in the Common Room, as we arrived. Word had filtered around the school that something very significant had happened. Harry was mobbed by Gryffindors seeking an official explanation.

"I don't know what I can or should tell you," Harry began. "I'm sure you've all been upset and worried by the failure of magic during the Quidditch match and the worsening of things in the hours following that. I'm also sure that you've heard about the revolt staged by the former leader of the German Goblins, Ruppasta Minta, and his attacks upon the centers of magic in Germany, France, and Britain. I can tell you that calm has been restored, but it will take some time until things return to normal. The ability to use magic is still quite limited in the London and Paris areas. You should find magical powers at Hogwarts back to normal and they will soon be stronger than normal, once we repair the magical circle under London. I can tell you that Ruppasta Minta has been vanquished. His supporters have been killed or captured, and the Goblin King Goblanze, whom some of you met in Hagrid's class, is back in power, although the Goblins will be choosing a new leader within the coming year. Neville and Margaret played big roles in the battle.

"Margaret killed several Goblins, so you'll all have to be very kind and helpful to her over the next weeks. It is very difficult to kill somebody, and it takes a good while to recover your equilibrium. You may also have heard that Bruce Montaigne and his father were broken out of jail by Ruppasta's Goblins. This is also true. Bruce was wounded and exiled. His father was recaptured.

"Professor Firenze has told many of you of a looming imbalance in the universe, which could have destroyed magic. Some of you helped him make a sand drawing of a Yantra to help restore the balance. We are fairly certain that the balance has been restored. Professor Firenze will confirm this at your next class. I am confident that you are completely safe here at Hogwarts and that the worst of the crisis is past. That's all that I can tell you, for now.

"Oh yes, you should also know that Ginny and I are now married, but please don't spread it about, because we haven't had a chance to tell her father yet.

"Now, you should go back to your dorm rooms and get some sleep. I'll tell you more, when the Minister and Headmaster say it is alright to do so. There is nothing alarming, simply some details that I don't know are meant to become public quite yet."

Margaret stated that she felt fine and had done what she did out of necessity. She described the realization that she could respond bravely in the face of a great danger that must be defeated as well as her encounter with the Light Guardian as "two life-shaping events in the course of an hour. I know I'll never be the same person again, but I mean that in a very good way. I don't feel upset at all about what happened." With some pushing, she did agree that she would talk to Mrs. Granger, 'just to make absolutely certain that I stay fine'. She seemed persuaded by Harry's reassurance that "Mrs. Granger was a big help to me, when I was in your position."

In response to a specific question from the Peakes brothers, Harry replied "I don't know anything more about your Quidditch match than you do, but if you forced me to hazard a guess, I'd say the headmaster will insist that Gryffindor lost the match, because the other Seeker caught the snitch, prior to his unfortunate accident. I understand he is recovering nicely, by the way. Now, no more questions! Good night. We have to visit the Headmaster."

As the crowd dispersed, Cissy approached us, wanting to talk. "I feel that I need to speak to my father. Now that Bruce is gone, I don't mind talking to him and I want to either resolve things between us, or at least determine where I stand with him. I just don't feel up to tackling the meeting alone. I was hoping that some of you could come with me. I think definitely not Neville, or it will look too much like the gang that did in Bruce. Perhaps Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione?"

"That would be fine with me, but it will have to be later in the day tomorrow. We have to go to the Ministry to explain to my Dad that Harry and I are married. We planned to do that right after breakfast. I wouldn't be surprised if we end up having lunch at the Ministry, but we could get back in time for a mid-afternoon trip to see your father."

"I don't even know where he is being held," Cissy realized.

"Neither do I," Harry realized, "but I can find out while we're at the Ministry. For the moment, I just want to get some sleep. I'll see you all at breakfast. Now we do briefly have to drop in on the Headmaster."

As we crested the stairs to McGonagall's office she called out, "I was just about to come searching for you. I've been waiting up to find out everything that happened inside the Sacred Cavern."

"I'm sorry," Harry didn't really apologize, "we had to calm the younger Gryffindors. They were very upset by everything that has happened today."

Harry gave her an expurgated bare-bones summary of events, begging off on her requests for details, details, and more details. "We need sleep and, frankly, there are some things that I don't want to mention until I've had a chance to discuss them with the Minister. We can talk more later. For now, know that Hogwarts is safe. Neville will likely return tomorrow. He has gone to St. Mungo's to talk to his parents. I don't know anything about any change in their condition. Good night."

I think it was totally understandable that our entire circle was more than a little late for breakfast. We had all had a very long and stressful prior day and, tired as we all were, sleep had not come easily. Professor McGonagall seemed agitated by our late arrival and soon walked over to the Gryffindor table, to stand between Harry and me. "I think we need to all get together after breakfast for a review of what happened yesterday," she announced, without preamble. "I would have preferred to meet at greater length last night, but accept that you were overly tired."

"Still am," Harry replied. "I'm happy to review events in greater detail, but can't promise any sooner than after dinner. Ginny and I are going to the Ministry right after breakfast to review the events of yesterday with Shacklebolt and the Minister, including explaining to Arthur how I happen to be married to his daughter. We promised to go with Cissy to see her father in mid-afternoon."

"Right after dinner it will be then. We'll meet in our apartment. I thought your circle, Trew, Narcissa, and myself."

"I'm not sure about Narcissa," Harry objected. "I suppose that we could give her a general fill in on what happened and then excuse her, before we get into detail, speculation, or planning. If Narcissa will be there for part of the meeting, then you might as well invite Draco, as well. He was actually present for much of yesterday's events. I also need to borrow Professor Weasley to help explain things to the Minister."

"I'll ask her to reschedule her class, and I'll invite Draco to tonight's meeting." She was smiling as she left to return to the head table. I saw her speaking to Mom, and then Mom walked over to join us.

We had just finished eating, but decided to take a few minutes to scan the morning papers before heading off the for Harry's office at the Ministry. It wasn't that we were trying to postpone what might prove a very contentious meeting, but rather to make sure we were aware of what Dad had learned from the press and what bad publicity might have him on edge. The papers hadn't had time to learn and print much of the story. The Daily Prophet blared:

**RUPPASTA ATTACKS LONDON. MAGIC IS DOWN**

**TOURISTS ENTER DIAGON ALLEY**

**WHAT WILL THE MINISTER DO TO PROTECT US?**

There was not much detail in the story, mostly personal observations and some quotes from Dad. The Prophet did correctly state that Ruppasta and his forces were driven from the 'magical cavern beneath Gringotts Bank', with many rebel Goblins being captured, but that the crystal circle that mediated magic in the south of Britain had been very badly damaged. The article concluded on the ominous note that Ruppasta's current location was unknown and the Ministry and Gringotts officials had no idea where he might strike next. Ernie had a short article under the headline:

**Where is the King?**

He reported the disquieting news that nobody seemed to know where King Goblanze was and that it was feared that the rebels may have captured or killed him. "Surely he would show himself to his loyal subjects, during this time of crisis, were he able to," was Ernie's conclusion.

Someone, possibly Luna, had given Mr. Lovegood a bit of a heads up, because he had some details on what had happened at Hogwarts, in addition to virtually the same details about the London attack. His top headline ran:

**MAGIC FAILS AT HOGWARTS. STUDENT PLUMMETS FROM SKY**

**FIERCE BATTLE AT HOGWARTS SACRED CAVERN**

**GOBLIN KING FEARED CAPTURED**

Xenophilius's source had wisely not given him any information on our entry into the Sacred Cavern and the appearance of the Light Guardian. He wrote spiritedly of the brave fight put up by the King's Goblins, the Centaurs, and brave Hogwarts students and professors. Neville and Margaret came in for special mention, and Bill and Barb were described in very approving terms. The story ended with the ultimate outcome of the battle and the fate of the Wizarding world in doubt.

"For now, the brave defenders of Hogwarts are alive and well and planning their next action," was the concluding sentence. I think he stopped the story at the point that Luna was unwilling to furnish more detail, but it wasn't a bad approach to selling a lot of papers tomorrow. None of us felt that anything in the papers would put Dad in a particularly bad mood, so we set off for the Ministry with uplifted confidence.

Percy met us in Harry's reception room. Harry apologized for not having communicated the events of the prior day to Percy and offered a quick briefing, before we set off to meet Dad. "No problem," Percy replied "Cotto has given me a fairly complete report. I'm certainly interested in getting the detailed account from you, but the Minister wanted to see you as soon as you arrived. I believe congratulations are in order, and let me say how very happy I am the two of you are still alive."

The three of us headed off to Dad's office. Prudence waved us straight into the office, where Dad and Shacklebolt were chatting. Harry took the lead, saying, "I'm ready to give a detailed report of yesterday's events to you and the Director, but we have a personal matter to discuss and I would appreciate it if the Director could leave us for a short time."

Dad didn't say anything, but Shacklebolt got up and said he would go and get some breakfast. As the door closed, I noticed that Dad had a concerned, puzzled expression as he waited to find out what Harry had to say.

"I'll just say this directly," Harry began. "When it became clear, yesterday, that I needed to go into the Sacred Cavern and allow Ruppasta to capture me, so that I could talk to him and summon help, I realized that there was a very high chance that I would be killed. Ginny and I decided to and did get married, during the hour before I entered the Cavern. We had to do it quickly, so even Molly wasn't able to be in attendance. Professor McGonagall married us and Neville, George, Ron and Hermione were witnesses. We'd like to schedule a more formal wedding ceremony, as soon as is conveniently possible, possibly during Christmas break."

"And you brought Molly to run interference, because you didn't think I would take this news well."

"Yes. I know that was a cowardly approach to take, but it seemed appropriate."

"I'm not upset, but I am amused that you are more frightened of me than you were of Ruppasta and his rebels. Welcome to the family. I suspected that this would happen by summer, but this fast is a surprise. I was a little prepared for this, because Molly keeps reminding me of our courtship and how much faster things move in times of war and crisis. So, I'm happy to welcome you to the family at any time. A more normal repeat ceremony at Christmas break or the start of summer seems fine to me. The only instruction that I'll give you, is now that you're married to my daughter, I expect that you will not go on risking your life quite as cavalierly as you have in the past. It is time to learn that you are the Deputy Minister and not a super auror. Let me come around the desk and give you a hug."

He did exactly that, perhaps a little awkwardly, hugging me and Molly as well. "We'll wait for Shacklebolt's return to hear Harry's update and for Shacklebolt to update him on what has been happening here. The two of you are welcome to stay for that meeting. Then I think we'll go off for a family lunch."

"That sounds very good, Arthur," Mom responded. "You should also know that Ron and George may want to hold wedding ceremonies at the same time as Ginny's."

"You surprise me with George. I knew Ron's marriage was coming, in fact I expected it before Ginny's. We'll have to work through the logistics of all of this. Given the way the last wedding ended, I doubt anyone could bear to go through another wedding at the Burrow. The bad memories are far too fresh."

There was a knock on the door and Shacklebolt returned, carrying a half-eaten bagel with what looked like lox cream cheese smeared thickly on its surface. He took his customary seat and merely nodded, when Dad announced "sorry to exclude you. That really was quite personal. It appears as though Harry and Ginny are now married. It was one of those hurried war-time ceremonies, before Harry marched off to die."

Shacklebolt swallowed and wiped his lips with his napkin, before congratulating each of us. "Very brief ceremonies can lead to very long marriages," he observed.

Shacklebolt and Dad indicated that they had thoroughly quizzed Barb for details, and then read her written report and quizzed her again. They knew a lot, but they wanted to know what happened in the Sacred Chamber before our rescue brigade had stormed the tunnel.

"You took an awful risk against very long odds, Harry," Dad said in a chastising but not an angry way. "You had not much of a plan and were quite literally saved by a 'Deux ex Machina' addition to the little script you wrote for this adventure. I'm not at all sure that we wouldn't all be better off with less risk involved, if you had spent fifteen more minutes in planning, instead of getting married."

"As you know," Harry explained, "Neville and Hermione are the thinkers of our group and Dumbledore assigned them the responsibility to slow me down or stop me if I was doing something rash and overly dangerous. We all thought this through: Hermione even wore the Ravenclaw diadem to boost her brain power. We just couldn't come up with any other approach that had a greater likelihood of success. I had just gotten married - believe me, I was not feeling at all suicidal. If there was a safer way, I would have happily walked that other path."

"Well, alright, you were there and I wasn't, and I did give you permission to go ahead. You weren't to take Ginny with you, however. You gave me your promise on that one."

"And I kept it. I convinced Ginny to remain in the Reception Hall and stay in mental contact with me. Everyone thought all the unfriendlies in the Reception Hall had been dealt with. The Deputy Chairman surprised Ginny and everyone else. I guess he actually was a friendly, but he just didn't think the prophecy could be fulfilled unless Ginny and Hermione also entered the Sacred Cavern. He told me that I was destroying the only chance for my plan to succeed, and dooming all magical creatures to extinction, because I was driven by your concern for Ginny's safety. He said he acted as he did because being Deputy Chairman carries certain responsibilities and risks, just as both Ginny and Hermione recognized that being assistant Keepers and the Mother of the Future and her Muse carried responsibilities and risks.

"He said he would never force Ginny to take such a risk, but that he had heard enough of our conversation to know that Ginny was very willing to do so and that you and I were stopping her from doing her duty. The Deputy is not a bad Goblin; he fully expected to die for taking the action he saw as necessary and unavoidable. He caught Ginny totally by surprise. She was prepared to honor our wishes, despite not seeing it as the right thing for her to do. If anything, I should have given more weight to her view and less to yours."

"So I heard from Barb. Neither Shacklebolt nor I view that as the aurors' finest hour, being surprised and defeated by a lone Goblin. But what's done is done, as Molly kicking me under the table is evidently meant to convey. Still, I will not tolerate having my daughter kidnapped and hustled off to her death at sword point. I've asked King Goblanze to come to my office. I shall demand that he arrest his deputy and deal with him in the harshest possible manner."

"No! You can't do that."

This brought a very displeased look from Dad.

"I mean you shouldn't do that. He would never have intentionally harmed me and would willingly have died to protect me. He is a very religious Goblin and he sees me as sacred. If he hadn't done what he did, certainly Harry and Cissy would have been killed, along with King Goblanze and there would have been a big war with the Goblins and magic probably would have been destroyed.

"I learned a lot of history from the Light Guardian. Goblin, and Elf, and Centaur history, as well as our own. There is so much of our past, which we have forgotten, but like the stories of Beedle the Bard, this knowledge is still passed down to Goblin children. The Deputy believed that these ancient legends, at the very heart of Goblin myth and religion, were the only thing which could save us.

"Crisis negotiations among magical peoples are fraught with distrust. To you, Harry, Cissy, Hermione, and me entering the Sacred Cavern was a very foolish thing to do, because you don't understand what is important to Goblins. The rituals of the Covenant, and the Keeper, and the Messenger Elf, and the Keeper of the Universe, who speaks for the Goblin Master are buried deep in Goblin culture. Many Goblins still believe in them.

"The Wizard Minister of Magic may mean very little to them, but the Mother of the Future is important. Other than the Goblin Master/Light Guardian, that Mother was the only person in history who managed to get the various magical peoples to fully trust each other and to feel truly safe. They still remember tales of the first Mother of the Future, thousands of years ago. Other than the Goblin Master/Light Guardian, that Mother was the only person in history who managed to get the various magical peoples to fully trust each other and to feel truly safe. The Deputy knew that many of Ruppasta's traditional Goblins would consider it a very great sin to murder the Mother. Far worse than killing the Wizard Keeper. The Goblins have carefully maintained the seats for the Mother of the Future and her Muse for centuries. The Sacred Cavern has few seats and Goblin females have not even been allowed to enter the Cavern for centuries, but no Goblin dared to sit in those seats for all that time. For Ruppasta to have the Mother chained to her seat and slaughtered would be an unspeakable crime in Goblin legend.

"The Deputy counted on that fact to cause dissention in Ruppasta's ranks. The Keepers following the ritual and asking the Goblin King for help also meant something to many of these Goblins. It harkens back to the era of Goblin greatness. Cotto, Baal, and Firenze understood that the full form of the ritual must be followed. That was the only way for the Wizard adversary to show the Goblins proper respect and another way for Ruppasta to reveal himself as a bad Goblin. For species who don't trust each other, following the old ritual is very important. In the end, the Deputy didn't even have to raise his sword to prevent Ruppasta's most fanatical supporter to stop and to delay killing us. That was the power of the ritual and memory of the Mother passed down for centuries by Goblin parents. It really was our best chance. The appearance of the Light Guardian was just an unexpected bonus."

"Alright, Genevra, I see that there are things about your adventure that I am unable to fully understand. Please tell us your story of what happened and fill in any details that Barb wasn't aware of."

Harry and I took turns filling in the details. Everyone seemed most interested in the appearance of the Light Guardian and the workings of the Covenant, under which Cotto and Bane had appeared.

Dad interrupted our summary to ask Prudence to see whether or not Cotto was still in the building and if he could attend. While we waited, we discussed Firenze in great detail. Dad said that both the political and cultural significance of a Light Guardian appearance and the triggering of the Covenant responsibilities of the various species were bound to be profound. He wanted a list of all who had observed the Light Guardian. "Wizards have all but given up their religion," he told us, "with Christmas trees as common in Wizard homes as Hanukkah bushes in Jewish Muggle homes.

"This will lead to a rebirth of our own religion. There will be new priests and priestesses and also new charlatans. There will be those who weren't present who will claim to have seen the Light Guardian and to be the designated conveyor of his one true message. I'd like to head that off with an official record. Most Wizards have nominally adopted the Christian religion, and from all that I can tell, that is a perfectly solid, positive, faith now that they have outgrown their habit of burning Witches and other opponents and emphasized the gentler loving God approach. This is going to be a great shock to those wizards."

Cotto was in the building and did join us. "I'm glad to see you again," Harry said, rising to shake his little hand. "Ginny and I both had the sense in the Sacred Cavern that you had more important duties and we weren't going to see you again."

"Not at all, Harry Potter - while it is true that I am actually Firenze's Elf as well as Elf King, it is important that I remain with you and help you to understand the other magical creatures. Firenze says this is the most important thing for me to do. I am also to protect you and Ginny. Baal is young, but he is also a very good Elf and can be of much help. I am learning much about Wizard ways during my time with you and Percy."

Dad treated Cotto very respectfully, as one should with a King and Messenger Elf, but also questioned him in great detail, regarding the events of yesterday and the role of the various magical beings in maintaining magic and the Covenant. Cotto explained that Baal had dutifully kept him informed of events during the day and that he was awaiting Harry's entrance into the Sacred Cavern, as were Bane and Firenze. He knew when Harry had entered, and would have arrived within ten minutes, whether summoned or not. While he admitted that he thought Harry had acted well, he dismissed Dad's terms like 'reckless and bravery' and said that Harry was simply doing his duty, no more and no less. He told Dad that since all would collapse if the magic died, that the Covenant was more important than governments and individuals. He, Bane, and Firenze had merely carried out their assigned roles, as had Harry and Cissy, and as King Goblanze had tried to do. He said that neither Firenze nor he had been present during the Light Guardian's appearance, but that even at a distance, he, Firenze, and one of the unicorns could listen in on all that the Light Guardian had said.

He told Dad that a Keeper's duties were more important than a Deputy Minister's and that Harry had chosen the correct path. He said that I had acted well, with fate and my yearning to fulfill my obligations drawing me close enough to the mouth of the tunnel for the Deputy Chairman to act. "Ginny must follow her own wisdom. The Mother of the Future is more important than a Deputy Minister or even the Minister. It is great honor and big obligation. Hermione did well to protect Ginny. All ended as it was meant to end."

He said he was telling the precise truth, when he conveyed the Light Guardian's commands to Ruppasta and his supporters. When asked when we were likely to see the Light Guardian again, Cotto replied that it was very unlikely that we, or our children, or our children's children would see him. "Yes, we are mostly on our own," Cotto said, "but we, the magical beings, have been given all that we need to coexist in peace and to keep the magic strong. It is up to ourselves what happens."

I thought Hermione was less polite to King Cotto than Dad had been. She basically accused him "You weren't really captured in one of RF's wild Elf raids, were you? You deliberately made yourself available for Harry to discover."

"It was my duty and my instructions from Firenze," Cotto replied. "The Messenger Elf must find a way to meet the Keeper and determine if he is a true Keeper. Harry and Cissy are both true Keepers."

When everyone's account was finished, Dad had Prudence read back her transcript and we all said that it was as accurate as we could remember. Dad then summarized "so, those present at any time during the Light Guardians appearance were Harry and Ginny, Cissy Montaigne, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Neville, Luna, Margaret Wright, Bill and Barb, King Goblanze, the Deputy Chairman, about a half dozen of Goblanze's supporters – I'll get the names from the King this afternoon, and almost two dozen of Ruppasta's Goblins – I'll also get those names from King Goblanze."

"And of course Ruppasta, but he's no longer on this world," I corrected, earning myself a glare from Dad.

"I think it's time for lunch at a Muggle restaurant," Mom announced. Shacklebolt was invited to join us, but said it seemed like a family affair. We did pick up Percy on the way out of the Ministry.

It was a very mellow and celebratory lunch, with Mom and a couple sherries putting Dad in a very relaxed, welcoming father-in-law mode. I enjoyed my meal, this being the first time in a while that I felt able to relax and savor my food. I had two very nicely spiced crab cakes, beets with an orange glaze, mashed potatoes laced with sour cream and chives, a small salad of spiced and diced cabbage in light cream, and a chocolate raspberry torte for dessert. We had a champagne toast to us as the newly married couple. I was pleased as Harry became progressively more relaxed during lunch, the recognition finally dawning on him that Dad was not going to take our marriage badly and that the working relationship that he had established with Dad would not be impaired. Percy seemed genuinely pleased to have Harry as an official member of our family.

"You have to admit, however," Dad mused, "that these marriages are coming in a strange order. I'm still waiting for two of my older sons to let me know that they've found their future partner."

"I don't want to intrude on Ginny's moment," Percy responded to the goading, "but I may well have something to announce not very long from now. It is hard to find a Witch who doesn't view my obsession with the minutia of the Ministry to be anything other than unbearably dull. Happily, I believe I've found someone who takes as much interest in Ministry affairs as I do."

"Delores Umbridge is dead," I informed Percy, who didn't even rise to the bait.

Harry quickly jumped into the awkward silence. "There is one other thing, Sir. Cissy badly wants to see her father. I agreed to ask your permission. Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and I, and of course Bill and Barb would accompany her. She has been very brave and very helpful this past month and she has just about lost her entire family. Participating in her brother's almost death had to be a great shock to her. I think it is important that we grant her wish."

"With reluctance, I agree," Dad replied. "Stay on your guard and keep a couple of the guard aurors with you. Old Montaigne is not to be trusted. I know that all of you trust Cissy, and really I have no reason not to, but it's hard for me to warm to any Montaigne. You'll find him at your parents' house in Godric's Corner. I'll alert the guard to expect you."

I was only moderately tipsy as we took our leave from my family and apparated back to the landing outside the Gryffindor Common Room.

I won't say Cissy was waiting impatiently for us, but she was sitting alone in the Common Room, dressed for departure and not even reading, simply staring at the Fat Lady portal. We surprised her by entering from the pyramid arch. She spun around in her chair, smiled and rose to meet us. "I didn't know when you'd return. I know it's only 2:30, but I guess I was getting a little anxious. I'm sure you want to kick back a little before we depart, but I'd appreciate it if we could leave in about a half hour. I've revved up my courage for this meeting and am afraid that it will just drain away if we delay too long. I know it looks like I've been sitting here bored and overly impatient, but I've been rehearsing in my mind what I want to say to my father and considering alternatives based upon his initial reaction to what I say. I know that is likely wasted effort, but I can't help being an over-planner. So, anyway…"

"Why don't we just leave right now?" Harry suggested. That put a smile back on Cissy's face. I quickly found Hermione in our dorm room and Harry similarly chased down Ron. We went back through the archway by which we had entered the Common Room and apparated to just inside the door of the house. We had our aurors with us.

We were confronted by two of Montaigne's guards pointing their wands at us. They recognized us and lowered them immediately. "Good thing you didn't arrive a few minutes earlier," the taller of the aurors told Harry. "We just barely received the warning from the Minister that you would be visiting us. Two minutes sooner and you'd have caught us totally by surprise. We probably would have cursed you. Things have been tense since the Goblin attack."

"I apologize," Harry replied. "If I'd been thinking straight, I'd have waited a half hour to make sure the Minister had a chance to reach you before we came. Where is your prisoner?"

"He's upstairs. We'll fetch him for you. Good to see you both again, Bill and Barb."

The former Lord Montaigne was scowling when he came downstairs. It was clear that he had been weeping, but he looked quite composed at the moment. "I didn't expect to see you today or, I suppose, ever, Cissy," he greeted his daughter. "Having helped in the death of your brother, I viewed you as having resigned from this family and gone over to the other side."

"Father, you know that I never even pretended to support what Bruce was trying to do. I just couldn't let him kill Hermione or anyone else. He had already been responsible for the deaths of far too many students. If he hadn't become violent, I wouldn't have attacked him. He ordered me to participate in his attack. He left me no choice: either I could become complicit in his evil, or I could oppose him. I chose not to be evil. You should know that Bruce is not dead. He was badly injured, but the Light Guardian healed him and then banished him to another land. If he can rid himself of his hatred, he will be allowed to return. He is with Ruppasta."

"Ruppasta promised to make Bruce the leader of the Wizards, when he defeated King Goblanze and conquered the Ministry. Bruce was so close when you stopped him. Without any magic unless Ruppasta and Bruce permitted there to be magic, Minister Weasley would have no choice but to capitulate. Our family would be returned to its rightful position. You ruined everything. You knew the prophecy. After all the sacrifices this family made as Keeper to preserve all the magical creatures and protect the Covenant, we were to be stripped of our titles or slaughtered, so that this new golden age could arrive. Bruce and I were imprisoned. We took the only course open to us. The Keeper should be a Montaigne and he should be the leader of the Wizard community. You think you can be the Keeper, but you never can. You're a Montaigne and you're a Witch and neither will be accepted."

"You can use that sacrifice line on those less knowledgeable and more gullible than me, father. I know you haven't sacrificed a thing. You've always lived very well, done exactly what you wanted, and had plenty of influence, especially at the bank. Exactly what have you sacrificed? And for your information, I am already a Keeper. I was approved by the Light Guardian, who didn't seem to care whether or not my name is Montaigne and whether or not I'm female. I'm also accepted by the Goblin King, the Centaurs, and the Elves. I think the golden age has already begun. I intend to be a very good Keeper and to improve the condition of all magical creatures."

"That's silly, the Light Guardian is just an old myth, although it's a myth that served this family well for many generations, but that's past. Now being Keeper is all duty, service and groveling to lesser beings, without any real power. I couldn't even secure a pardon or even banishment for Bruce. Even a generation ago, things would have been different. You may be Keeper, but you've squandered the family power and that's all that matters. At least Bruce appreciated the importance of power. You only want to be of service. The whole purpose of being Keeper is to continue and advance this family's position and wealth. That sometimes requires doing a little bit of what you call evil. If Montaignes hadn't been willing to do what it takes to maintain our position, we long since would have traveled the path of the Parkinsons and Gaunts. That is why a female Montaigne keeper is as bad as no Montaigne at all. It might have been different if you had more ambition or if I had taken the time to train you in the ways of grasping and maintaining power.

"Perhaps I focused too much attention on Bruce and allowed you to go all soft. My excuse is that you reminded me of your mother, who was a fine wife, but too soft for the reins of power. Besides, you'll never marry, so our line ends with you, unless you want to count whatever little bastards your brother has running around in the Muggle world. It is a fitting end for a family that murdered its own eldest son two generations in a row."

"I most certainly did not murder Bruce. I merely prevented him from doing more killing. He may even return, although I doubt there is enough goodness in him for that."

"Cissy is correct," Hermione forcefully declared, disrupting the Montaigne's focus upon each other. "She didn't kill Bruce. Bruce isn't dead. The Light Guardian saved him. But, even if he had died, Bruce killed himself. He was under an Unbreakable Vow not to escape and not to oppose the Ministry. The sham kidnapping was enough of a ruse to allow Bruce to convince himself that he wasn't actually escaping, simply being forced to go where Ruppasta led him. When he pulled a wand on me, he was definitely in charge, definitely trying to escape, and definitely opposing the Ministry. The Unbreakable Vow would have killed him by morning. Cissy just stunned him, there wasn't enough magical strength left for any curse to do more than that. Neville deliberately did not kill him. So, Bruce would actually have killed himself, or you would have killed him by not trying to stop him from joining Ruppasta's rebels. And if you weren't so given to wallowing in self-pity, you would realize that you and Bruce each got a very sweet deal for the extremely serious crimes you committed. Cissy is also correct that she saw the Light Guardian and was approved as keeper. She is most certainly correct that you haven't sacrificed a thing as Keeper."

"It is not true that I haven't sacrificed. I could be living a very satisfactory life as a British Lord. All of my troubles have come from the Wizarding world and my Keeper duties. The normal humans never gave me the problems with Bruce that the Wizarding world did, nor did they hound me about my brother's banishment and death. The Muggle world was an ocean for Bruce to lose himself in and when he committed some transgression or another, the Muggle authorities were easily bought off or deterred with a little magical effort by Bruce. Dumbledore was relentless in hounding me and in persecuting Bruce, just as the current Ministry has been. The Muggles were always satisfied with Bruce simply moving to another country. And then there was the painful necessity of dealings with the Goblin King and Dumbledore. Were it not for my Keeper duties, I could have avoided all of that hectoring and subservient groveling to lesser persons and species. So, don't you dare tell me that I haven't sacrificed to fulfill my Keeper duties and uphold the family traditions."

"If you found your Keeper duties and serving on the Gringotts board with Dumbledore to be so distasteful, you were always free to resign," Hermione sensibly told him. "It's not as if you ever did a whit of good for the Wizarding world by your presence. You even failed at the most basic Keeper duty of protecting your estate from Muggle intrusion. Yes, we know you tried to sell the castle and surrounding lands for development. We've also viewed Dumbledore's memories of his dealing with you and, despite all your whining, we all know that Dumbledore helped you save Bruce more than once."

"Yes Dumbledore helped once or twice, but he never helped enough. Weasley, Potter, and Goblanze never helped at all. I only sold the land when it was clear that Bruce was not going to be treated fairly and gently as a sick noble deserves. Up until that time, I more than upheld my end of the bargain. I know your lot objected to my blocking loans from Gringotts to Wizards, but that was necessary to keep Wizards from venturing out into the Muggle world and getting noticed. I was not about to let them spoil that last bit of my life and not be able to show my face in the House of Lords or go anywhere without having to explain my eccentric brethren, who quite honestly had zero chance of adapting to or fitting into the modern world. The Wizards' time was drawing to a close. I saw no point in prolonging the misery. My family and a few of the Great Houses, like the Malfoys, could simply move into Muggle society and leave all this witchcraft behind. I did my best to preserve a lifestyle that I found deeply repugnant, but if your people were going to persecute my poor sick son, then I had no problem ending the whole mess in this generation. Dumbledore foolishly thought the prophecy gave me no way out, other than total capitulation.

"He should have known that the permanent loss of magic was not something that I feared. I preserved it only for Bruce. My father did not believe in magic. He never let a wand touch his hands after he left Hogwarts and neither did I. If you people choose to live as superstitious, medieval savages, I was certainly not about to grease your way into the larger English society. You don't fit. You never will fit. Potter's uncle is totally correct in his views. Bruce convinced me of the rightness of his views, while we were imprisoned together. The Wizards' only chance was for a strong hand like Bruce's to rule them and mold them gradually, until they were fit to participate in normal society. We did not get to where we have as a family to risk being dragged down by loose Wizards. Cissy thinks she's so smart, but she is too blind or stupid to see this."

"So you had no desire to pass the Keeper post down to me and to allow me to continue the family tradition?" Cissy asked, visibly tearing up.

"The Montaigne legacy is passed through the males. I failed to produce a suitable male heir. Better Potter than you. I knew your mother's health was dicey, when we tried for a more suitable heir than Bruce. I terribly regret her death and miss her every day, but it would almost have been worth it, if you were male."

"Well, at least I needn't grieve the loss of my family," Cissy said, turning to leave. "Goodbye father, I shan't be seeing you again. Contrary to your wishes, I will be completing my education at Hogwarts. I intend to be a very good Keeper and a Priestess of the Light Guardian. I may even marry, but you will never get to contaminate your grandchildren. I've met a very nice, but rather mysterious, boy at Hogwarts.

"Like all Wizards, even wealthy ones, you will die father. Nobody will grieve for your passing. Nobody will remember any selfless good deeds that you've performed, because you've performed none. You will be remembered only as an evil, greedy, schemer, who couldn't be content with all his power and wealth. Even if Bruce returns to this world, he won't grieve your passing. He's hated you for years. He knows that you are convinced that he is crazy and he's convinced that he isn't. He sees you as weak and he thinks that you murdered my mother."

"That's crazy, I loved your mother. I would never have harmed her. I love Bruce. I know that he loves me, in his own way. I have to believe that. You just don't understand."

"Goodbye, father."

{[shock] Just wow! Even knowing the Malfoy family, I can't quite believe what we just witnessed.}


End file.
